Woman pleads guilty to baseball bat attack

A Flathead County woman on Thursday admitted attacking another woman with a baseball bat last summer.

Shaun Katlynn Rowe pleaded guilty to one count of felony criminal endangerment and agreed to pay restitution in a theft case; a felony theft charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement. The criminal endangerment charge was amended from assault with a weapon.

While on the stand, Rowe admitted injuring a woman on July 10 in Kalispell. Rowe said she saw a woman at a pawn shop who allegedly owed her money.

“So you took a little helper along to get your money back in the form of a baseball bat, and you whacked her in the leg,” public defender Lane Bennett said to Rowe.

The woman had to be treated at the hospital, Bennett said.

Rowe also admitted making unauthorized purchases with a gas card in a separate incident.

At times, Rowe grinned on the witness stand as the admissions were made.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors have said they will recommend a five-year commitment to the Department of Corrections, with all five years suspended. Bennett will recommend a five-year deferred imposition of sentence. Suspended sentences appear on a defendant’s criminal record.

A deferred imposition of sentence will not appear on a criminal record if the defendant successfully discharges it.

Judge Heidi Ulbricht is not bound by the plea agreement and can sentence Rowe up to 10 years with the Department of Corrections if she wishes. Sentencing is set for February.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.