The mother of a toddler killed in a 2015 child abuse case has been sentenced to 20 years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with 15 years suspended for her role in the child’s death. 

Takara Juntunen, 22, of Evergreen, was sentenced Thursday in Flathead District Court for felony mitigated negligent homicide for the death of 2-year-old Forrest Groshelle. She thanked Judge Heidi Ulbricht at sentencing for recommending drug treatment to address her usage of methamphetamine, saying that she might not be alive if she had not been sent to jail. 

“Thank you for giving me a second chance,” Juntunen said. 

Juntunen’s attorney Steven Scott called the case a “poster child as to why methamphetamine is a scourge and why people should not get involved in that.” 

Juntunen previously admitted that she had not sought medical care for Forrest, who was found unresponsive on Feb. 18. 2015, after her boyfriend, Brandon Newberry, 22, was heard screaming “It’s my fault,” in the background of a 911 call. A medical examiner determined that Forrest had died of a blunt force blow to the abdomen, equivalent to that of a gunshot. In court documents, Juntunen admitted that she had been using meth daily and did not take the child to the doctor in the days before his death even though he had a high fever and was throwing up brown vomit. 

Newberry eventually entered an Alford plea to mitigated deliberate homicide and was sentenced April 19 to 40 years in the Montana State Prison for killing Forrest. 

Scott noted that 21 people had sent the court letters of support for Juntunen. 

Among them was relative Cory Juntunen who wrote: “I can say with complete confidence that if it were not for Takara’s drug addiction none of this would’ve happened. Forrest’s life would not have been cut short and she would not be in jail.” 

Juntunen’s grandfather Burton Rice also urged the judge to send Juntunen to treatment, instead of the maximum 20-year prison sentence that could have been imposed. 

“She does not belong in prison,” Rice wrote. “Some kind of rehab is what she needs.” 

Friend Nichole Southland also reminded the court that the person believed to have actually done the killing has been punished. 

“Takara doesn’t need jail,” Southland wrote. “She needs help and counseling for her addiction and to be able to talk to a professional counselor. She was not the one that kicked, punched and tormented her son. That person has been sentenced for that crime.” 

There was one letter from a community member that asked the judge to impose a harsh prison sentence, but prosecutor Andrew Clegg noted that prison time is typically reserved for violent or repeat offenders. 

Ulbricht noted before imposing the sentence that Juntunen had a hard life up until Forrest’s death. 

“The court has to weight that against your job as a mother and part of that job was to protect your child from harm and certainly death,” Ulbricht said. “There were times before Forrest passed away, that had you and Mr. Newberry sought medical treatment, he might still be with us today.”

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