Kalispell Woman Sentenced to 20 Years with 10 Suspended in Fatal Drunk Driving Head-on Collision
Kala Renee Knaus, 31, in February pleaded guilty to a felony count of vehicular homicide while under the influence following a New Year’s Day wreck that killed 37-year-old Alyssa Sladek last year
By Maggie Dresser
A 31-year-old Kalispell woman who killed another driver in a 2025 New Year’s Day head-on collision was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in the Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended.
Kala Renee Knaus in February pleaded guilty to a felony count of vehicular homicide while under the influence in Flathead County District Court in the death of 37-year-old Alyssa Sladek as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. She previously pleaded not guilty in June 2025 when she was charged with the crime.
Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht ordered Knaus to pay $12,537 in restitution and gave her credit for 140 days of jail time served.
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 Montana 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 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 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.