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Judge hands 30-year sentence to Billings teen involved in deadly 2018 Heights crash

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BILLINGS — A Billings teen was sentenced to 30 years in the Montana State Prison for his role in a deadly 2018 crash that killed a young woman on a busy Billings Heights road.

On Monday, while court proceedings took place at First Interstate Arena, Yellowstone County District Judge Colette Davies handed down a term of 30 years, with 10 years suspended, to 18-year-old Jacob Standing Elk on a count of felony deliberate homicide.

Standing Elk was given a concurrent term of 10 years for a separate felony county of assault with a weapon.

In September of 2018, prosecutors said Standing Elk was drunk and suicidal while driving up to 120 miles per hour. He struck another vehicle and killed 20-year-old Haley Hutzenbiler and also injured another woman.

Standing Elk was 16 at the time and agreed to plead guilty to charges in February.

Davies also ruled Standing Elk is required to pay roughly $47,000 in restitution and will register as a violent offender.

Because the crime was committed when Standing Elk was a juvenile, the court will review his sentence after he turns 21 years old.