BILLINGS- A 16-year-old Billings boy has been charged with one count of felony deliberate homicide and two counts of assault with a weapon in the death of a 20-year-old woman in a Sept. 23 crash in Billings Heights.
Prosecutors say Jacob Standing Elk was suicidal and intoxicated prior to crashing into Haley Hutzenbiler’s car, killing her and injuring another woman.
Standing Elk has been in the hospital since the crash but appeared in adult district court Monday to face his charges.
Court documents say Standing Elk was driving drunk and texting friends saying he “didn’t want to live anymore” and “wanted to die.”
Officers say Standing Elk hit a speed of 124 miles an hour on Wicks Lane just seconds before striking Hutzenbiler’s car, which was stopped at a red light.
Police found an empty champagne bottle and a handwritten note describing a sex assault allegation against Standing Elk in his car.
He will appear Nov. 21 in court again–where a judge will decide if he should be tried as a youth in the case.
