Man pleads no contest to vehicular homicide

Saying he can’t remember the incident, a Columbia Falls man pleaded no contest on Thursday to causing a crash that killed a young Eureka woman in February.

During a hearing in Flathead County District Court, Tyrone J. Stallcup, 27, was convicted of vehicular homicide while under the influence for causing the death of Lakeisha Dawn Thibault, 19, in a drunken driving crash.

In exchange for Stallcup’s guilty plea, prosecutors dropped criminal endangerment charges against him and are recommending he receive a 20-year sentence to the Department of Corrections with 10 years suspended.

Having recovered enough from his injuries to no longer need a wheelchair, Stallcup accepted full responsibility for causing Thibault’s death.

He said he pleaded no contest because he has no recollection of the collision, but that it is likely he would have been convicted during a trial due to witness statements and his blood-alcohol concentration at the time.

“I would like to apologize... for my actions, for the choices I’ve made and for the loss I’ve caused,” said Stallcup, addressing members of Thibault’s family and friends who sat in the courtroom, holding her photo aloft.

Proudly displaying fresh tattoos depicting two plumerias (Thibault’s favorite flower) along with the dates of her birth and death, Thibault’s family members stood outside the courtroom afterward, discussing the plea.

Thibault’s father, John Thibault, called the no-contest plea a “cop out.”

Her stepmother, Carrie Thibault, agreed. “He should have ’fessed up,” she said, watching Lakeisha Thibault’s toddler daughter run around.

Stallcup had a blood-alcohol concentration of .27 — more than three times the legal limit — when he tried to pass Thibault at high speed on U.S. 2 near Columbia Falls just before 1 a.m. Feb. 12.

His pickup sideswiped her Subaru, causing both vehicles to roll into a ditch and ejecting both drivers.

Thibault was killed at the scene when her vehicle rolled on top of her.

Stallcup sustaining a broken pelvis, right hip and shoulder, five broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

He has a previous DUI offense on his record.

That evening, Stallcup had been drinking at the Blue Moon from around 7:30 p.m. until just before the crash.

Three people with him at the bar argued with Stallcup in the parking lot and asked him not to drive. A sober driver volunteered to take his pickup truck.

But he refused the offer.

Stallcup has been under formal house arrest since Feb. 18.

The maximum sentence for this offense is 30 years incarceration and a $50,000 fine.

His sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 5.