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Mother of Slain Toddler Pleads Guilty Takara Kaye Juntunen admits role in death of 2-year-old son
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
A 23-year-old Kalispell woman pleaded guilty to felony negligent homi- cide on Oct. 3, a year and a half after her boyfriend murdered her 2-year-old son.
Takara Kaye Juntunen pleaded guilty in Flathead County District Court a month after she signed a plea deal wherein she admitted that her decision to let Brandon Walter Lee Newberry care for her son in early 2015 led to Forrest Groshelle’s death.
Newberry was convicted of mitigated deliberate homicide earlier this year and was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Just weeks after Newberry was sen- tenced in April, Flathead County Deputy Attorney Andrew Clegg charged Jun- tunen with negligent homicide and crim- inal possession of dangerous drugs. Jun- tunen was arrested soon after and denied the allegations at an arraignment in June.
The plea deal stipulated that Jun- tunen would agree to plead guilty to felony negligent homicide and prosecu- tors would drop the drug charge. The state and defense have recommended a 20-year sentence to the Department of Corrections with 15 years suspended.
On Oct. 3, Juntunen appeared before District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht. During the hearing, Juntunen was sub- dued and only answered yes or no ques- tions on the stand.
“You should have known that putting your son in the care of Brandon Newberry meant that you were putting him in dan- ger, is that correct?” defense attorney Ste- ven Scott asked Juntunen, adding that Newberry had been using meth exten- sively at the time of Groshelle’s death.
“Yes,” Juntunen responded.
Juntunen will appear in court again for sentencing on Dec. 8.
On Feb. 17, 2015, the Flathead County Sheri ’s O ce responded to the report of an unresponsive child at a home in
Takara Juntunen pleads guilty to negligent homicide in Flathead County District Court on Oct. 3. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Evergreen. Upon arrival at the home, they determined that the child was deceased. First responders also observed injuries to the child’s face, neck, arms, legs, back and buttocks.
An autopsy revealed that Groshelle had been hit multiple times in the abdo- men, causing a laceration of the small intestine that slowly poisoned the boy. During an interview with law enforce- ment, Newberry told them that in the days before Groshelle’s death he had been “roughhousing” with the child.
Newberry had been dating Juntunen for three months at the time of the death and was living at her home in Evergreen. He frequently watched the child while Juntunen was at work.
In an interview with law enforcement, Juntunen said Groshelle had refused to eat and was “throwing up brown stu ” in the days before he died. She also said the
boy had “turned purple” at one point and had a temperature of 101 the day before he died. Despite the fact that the boy was throwing up and had a high fever, Jun- tunen stated that she did not believe Gro- shelle’s symptoms were serious.
Witnesses later told law enforcement that Juntunen’s level of care and atten- tion for Groshelle declined because of continued drug use. During the investi- gation, law enforcement found drug par- aphernalia in the home.
In February 2016, Juntunen’s father contacted the sheri ’s o ce after dis- covering drug paraphernalia inside his daughter’s backpack. A residue on the paraphernalia was later determined to be methamphetamine. In an interview with law enforcement, Juntunen admitted to using meth on a daily basis, speci cally on the days leading up to Groshelle’s death
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
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Libby Appoints New Mayor, Councilor Brent Teske, Kristin Smith assume new roles on Libby City Council
a month after his predecessor, Doug Roll, announced he was resigning after 13 years in Libby city government. Roll fre- quently butted heads with other council members and was the subject of a failed recall e ort earlier this year. Although a court shot down the recall e ort, Roll decided last month that the political environment in Libby had become too polarizing for him to continue.
Upon Roll’s resignation, council president Teske became interim mayor.
Teske was rst elected to the city council in 2013 and has held numerous roles on boards around town.
Smith was appointed to ll a seat made vacant when former councilor Barb Desch decided to step down last month. Desch told the Beacon that she could no longer dedicate time to serving in city government now that she is retired.
The Libby City Council is now accept- ing applications to ll Teske’s old seat.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
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BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
The Libby City Council has appointed Brent Teske as the community’s new mayor.
Teske was appointed to the commu- nity’s highest elected position during a special meeting on Sept. 28. The council also appointed Kristin Smith, owner of the Cabinet Mountain Brewery, to ll a vacant seat on the city council.
Teske’s appointment came less than
OCTOBER 5, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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