The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is investigating acts of vandalism and an attempted break-in at the Evergreen residence where a 2-year-old boy died last week.
According to Commander Dick Sine, the sheriff’s office received a report of vandalism shortly before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Evergreen residence where Forrest Groshelle died last week. Brandon Lee Walter Newberry, who was living there at the time of the death, is charged with deliberate homicide.
When police arrived at the Evergreen residence, they found a Jeep Grand Cherokee belonging to Newberry with its tires slashed, windows smashed in and front grill destroyed. Someone had also spray painted “Burn in Hell Brandon” on the side of the vehicle.
Police found that someone had also tried drilling into the lock on the front door of the home, where Newberry, Groshelle, and the boy’s mother, Takara Juntunen, lived.
Sine said there are no suspects at this time but urged the public to call the sheriff’s office if they had any information about the incident.
Newberry was arrested last week and charged with deliberate homicide in the death of 2-year-old Groshelle.
Juntunen, 21, had been dating Newberry, also 21, for less than three months when he allegedly assaulted the 2-year-old boy sometime between Feb. 11-17. The assault led to a perienteritis, a laceration of the small intestine. According to court documents and family members, the young boy was vomiting blood in the days before he died on Feb. 17. Newberry was arrested and charged on Feb. 18. He is due to appear in Flathead County District Court on Feb. 26.