Driver back in custody

Jason Deshazer, the man who caused the death of Somers Middle School teacher Dawn Bowker when his vehicle plowed head-on into her car Oct. 26, is back in jail.

He initially pleaded innocent to a charge of negligent homicide.

On Feb. 15, he changed his plea to guilty. He was released on a $25,000 bond and had been awaiting sentencing, which was scheduled for Thursday, April 26.

However, he was taken back into custody Tuesday after telling his probation officer that he had been out drinking.

Deshazer, then 22, was intoxicated at the time of the early-morning crash that killed the 27-year-old teacher as she drove Montana 82 from her Bigfork home to the Somers school.

One condition of his release was to stay away from alcohol. With this violation, he goes up for a bond revocation hearing.

But with the two court actions scheduled for the same day, attorneys may proceed directly to sentencing.

A pre-sentence investigation report had not been submitted by Tuesday afternoon. If not completed by next week, his sentencing could be delayed.

Deshazer faces as long as 20 years in state prison.

Bowker, a sixth-grade math and physical education teacher in her second year at the school, died instantly of head injuries at the scene of the crash. Deshazer was injured and treated at Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

He admitted in court in February that he had used alcohol, marijuana and cocaine the night before. He said he had gotten very little sleep before starting his drive on the Somers cut-across road.

On questioning from Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan during his plea-change hearing, Deshazer said he did not remember the accident. But he conceded that he must have blacked out before drifting across the center line into Bowker's lane of traffic.