Former Rare Staff
The family of late Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind is finding justice after one of her murderers admitted to the crime.
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The 22-year-old Native American woman lived with her parents in Fargo, N.D. She disappeared in August while eight months pregnant after going upstairs to help her neighbor, Brooke Crews, 38, with a sewing project. LaFontaine-Greywind’s parents called the police when she didn’t return.
Police obtained a warrant to search the home that Crews shared with her boyfriend, William Hoehn, 32. There, they found a newborn baby. DNA tests confirmed that the baby girl, later named Haisley Jo, was LaFontaine-Greywind’s daughter.
An eight-day search conducted by hundreds of volunteers led to the discovery of LaFontaine-Greywind’s body in the Red River. The kayakers who found her came across a body wrapped in duct tape and plastic.
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Officials later concluded that the young mother died as the result of “homicidal violence.”
Both Crews and Hoehn faced charges of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to murder following the ordeal.
On Monday, Crews pleaded guilty, though Hoehn pleaded not guilty. If convicted, both face a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
“Miss Crews took responsibility because she wanted to take responsibility,” said Steven Mottinger, Crew’s court-appointed lawyer. “The rest of this will have to work its way through the process. But, certainly, I think that goes a long ways in terms of us being able to argue for something less than life without parole when that time comes.”
Little Haisley Jo currently resides with her biological father and LaFontaine-Greywind’s boyfriend, Ashton Matheny.
One of two defendants in Fargo 'womb raider' case pleads guilty https://t.co/Ht1qTfdOHq pic.twitter.com/gyVb2eav3w
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) December 11, 2017
