A woman accused of an attempted stabbing with a pocketknife in downtown Kalispell in 2023 later earned a deferred sentence in Flathead County District Court.  

Harmony Taylor Houck, 28, pleaded not guilty to a felony count of assault with a weapon at her November 2023 arraignment. But she struck a deal with prosecutors in December of that year that saw them amend the charge to felony criminal endangerment. 

By then Houck, who was already facing a felony theft case, had picked up a felony bail jumping charge.  

In exchange for Houck's guilty plea to criminal endangerment, prosecutors agreed to drop the theft case and lessen the bail jumping charge to a misdemeanor. Per the agreement, prosecutors would recommend she receive a three-year deferred sentence for criminal endangerment and a suspended six-month sentence for bail jumping.  

Then Judge Robert Allison stuck to the terms of the agreement at Houck's February 2024 sentencing, handing down the deferred three-year sentence for the felony. 

The alleged attempted stabbing arose out of an Oct. 15, 2023 argument with another woman in front of a downtown Kalispell pizza joint. The victim told Kalispell Police officers that Houck lunged at her after being told to leave, according to court documents. The victim said she did not realize Houck was holding a knife until a bystander alerted her to the blade, court documents said.  

Officers caught up with Houck near the landmark known as Graffiti Rock. Houck allegedly tossed a knife to the ground at the instruction of officers prior to her arrest. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].