Kalispell Woman Enters Plea Deal in Fatal Drunk Driving Head-on Collision
Kala Renee Knaus, 31, pleaded guilty to a felony count of vehicular homicide while under the influence in a New Year's Day wreck that killed another driver last year
By Maggie Dresser
A 31-year-old Kalispell woman accused of killing another driver in a New Years Day head-on collision last year has pleaded guilty to a felony count of vehicular homicide while under the influence as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Kala Renee Knaus was charged with the crime last June in Flathead County District Court and pleaded not guilty before Judge Dan Wilson.
According to the plea agreement, a joint recommendation of a 20-year sentence in the Montana State Women’s Prison with 10 years suspended would be imposed in addition to restitution.
Defense attorney Sean Hinchey requested his client be released from custody until sentencing, which Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht denied, citing her violation of release conditions last fall.
Knaus on July 18, 2025 was released from the Flathead County Detention Center after posting a $250,000 property bond on the condition she would participate in continuous breath test monitoring. The court on Oct. 29 allowed the defendant to modify the conditions that allowed her to be monitored by remote breath testing instead of continuous monitoring. She subsequently missed required testing on four separate dates.
Knaus on Dec. 18 was arrested on a $25,000 bond.
During the hearing, Knaus told the court that she suffers from depression and anxiety and regularly attends therapy and treatment at Oxytocin in Kalispell.
According to an affidavit filed by Deputy Flathead County Attorney Larissa Malloy, dispatch on Jan. 1, 2025 at 1:25 a.m. received a report of a two-vehicle head-on crash that occurred on MT Highway 35 near Holt Drive in Bigfork.
Upon arrival, a Montana state trooper and other law enforcement officers discovered a red Kia Rio resting on its driver’s side approximately 10 feet west of the highway with extensive front-end and driver-side damage. There was also a Subaru Forester on its wheels facing east approximately 20 feet west of the highway and 100 feet north of the Kia, which also had extensive front-end and driver-side damage.
Authorities discovered a deceased female, identified as 37-year-old Alyssa Sladek, buckled into the driver’s seat of the Kia while the driver of the Subaru, later identified as Knaus, was conscious and acting “very belligerent,” according to charging documents.
Knaus was transported by emergency personnel to Logan Health and law enforcement obtained a toxicology sample, which was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab. The coroner determined the victim’s death was accidental and caused by blunt force trauma from the motor vehicle crash.
The Montana Highway Patrol investigation revealed Knaus’s Subaru was driving northbound on MT Highway 35 on a straight and level section when she crossed the center line into the southbound lane, hitting the Kia, which was driving southbound and striking the left bumper, records state.
After the vehicles collided, Knaus’s Subaru sped counterclockwise and continued north near the centerline curving toward the west where it ran off the road before coming to a rest with the wheels facing east. The Kia continued south in the southbound lane before running off the west side of the road where it rolled onto the driver’s side, coming to a rest facing north.
According to the defendant’s toxicology report, Knaus had a blood alcohol content over twice the legal limit and she also tested positive for prescription drugs, including Prozac, Unisom and a high dose of dextromethorphan, according to documents.
Knaus’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 28, at 2 p.m.