A woman, allegedly under the influence of multiple substances when she crashed a vehicle containing her young child in Kalispell in 2024, received a deferred sentence late last year.  

Prosecutors brought 31-year-old Shawna Jade Black of Kalispell up on a felony count of criminal child endangerment following the Oct. 3, 2024, wreck on Two Mile Drive. Black pleaded not guilty before Judge Dan Wilson in Flathead County District Court in March 2025, but took a deal with prosecutors in October of that year.  

In exchange for a guilty plea to amended charges of felony criminal endangerment and misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol, first offense, prosecutors agreed to recommend Black receive a deferred two-year sentence for the former and a suspended one-year jail sentence for the latter. She entered the guilty pleas on Oct. 2.  

Wilson stuck to the terms of the deal at Black's Nov. 20 sentencing. He ordered the two sentences to run concurrent and gave Black credit for one day of time served. He also required her to pay $250 in restitution.  

Black was behind the wheel of a red passenger car that crossed a boulevard, rolled over a grass lawn and struck a parked van in October 2024, according to court documents. A witness described her as appearing unconscious as the vehicle left the roadway.  

Approaching the now-stopped vehicle, the witness saw an uninjured child inside. Black awoke a short time later, court documents said.  

When Kalispell Police officers arrived, Black assented to a blood draw and field sobriety test, which indicated possible impairment, court documents said. Sent to the Montana State Crime Lab, the blood sample returned positive for fentanyl, methadone and difluoroethane. Authorities described the latter as "an intoxicating substance found in commercial compressed-gas dust remover" in court documents.   

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 406-758-4430 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.