Man charged in DUI death of C-Falls girl pleads guilty

The man who drove his pickup truck into an Evergreen home, killing a Columbia Falls High School student who was asleep inside, changed his plea to guilty to felony vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol Thursday in Flathead County District Court.

On April 26, 2019, Jared Allen Parsons, 31, was driving drunk down Spring Creek Drive in Evergreen when he went off the road and slammed into a house, killing Erin Howk, 15.

Howk was a freshman at Columbia Falls High School. She was asleep her bedroom when Parsons hit the home.

The report narrative from Montana Highway Patrol trooper Eric Thoreson, who responded to the call, said Parsons was traveling west on Spring Creek Drive when he veered off the south side of the street, struck a sign, some bushes and then the house. The truck went into the house as far as the driver’s side door, which, on that pickup, is about eight feet.

Parsons tried to flee the accident scene on foot, but family members got in a car and stopped Parsons before he could get away.

Parsons admitted in court Thursday he had been drinking at a residence and at the Scoreboard Pub in Kalispell before the wreck.

Since the incident, Parsons has met personally with Howk’s mother to try to reconcile with the family.

Parsons told the court that he wasn’t coerced into changing his plea.

While no formal plea agreement is in place, the expectation is that the Flathead County Attorney’s office will recommend 20 years in state prison, with 13 years suspended.

District Court Judge Robert Allison set sentencing for 9 a.m. Thursday, March 5.