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Kalispell Mother Accused of Negligent Homicide to Stand Trial in December

Takara Kaye Juntunen accused of negligent homicide a year after her boyfriend

By Justin Franz
Takara Juntunen appears in Flathead County District Court on June 16, 2016. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

The 23-year-old Kalispell woman accused of negligent homicide in the 2015 death of her 2-year-old son is expected to stand trial in December.

Attorneys on both sides of the case against Takara Kaye Juntunen appeared in Flathead County District Court on June 21 before Judge Heidi Ulbricht for a scheduling conference.

Prosecutor Andrew Clegg told the court he expected the trial to take one to two weeks. It’s set to start on Dec. 12.

In court documents filed earlier this month, Clegg accuses Juntunen of being responsible for her son’s death because she failed to seek medical attention for the boy in the days before he died, even though he showed signs of being abused. Juntunen’s boyfriend, Brandon Walter Lee Newberry, was convicted of mitigated deliberate homicide in Forrest Groshelle’s death earlier this year and was sentenced to 40 years at the Montana State Prison.

Juntunen has also been charged with felony criminal possession of drugs. She pleaded not guilty to both counts on June 16 at an arraignment hearing.