All three defendants who were charged following the drinking-related death of a Lake Area Technical Institute student in Watertown last month will serve jail time.
Twenty one year-old Kayla Juhnke, and 19 year-olds Logan Schilling and Brady Johnke were sentenced in Codington County District Court Tuesday afternoon.
They were charged with misdemeanor crimes after 19 year-old Kiona Leigh York died March 21st following a night of drinking at Schilling’s residence. Her blood-alcohol content when she was pronounced dead at Prairie Lakes Hospital was .296 percent—or more than three-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.
Juhnke was charged with purchasing the alcohol that was consumed, Johnke was charged with furnishing the alcohol and taking pictures of York and disseminating them on Snapchat without her consent, and Schilling provided the place where the alcohol was consumed.
Codington County State’s Attorney Patrick McCann described all three defendants as, “good kids” with no criminal histories, who made, “immature decisions,.” But at the same time, he recommended jail time for all three because a life was lost. McCann says that’s what made this case, “different.”
Juhnke and Schilling will each spend 11 days in jail. Johnke will serve 31 days. Judge Dawn Elshere ordered each defendant to serve one of their days in jail on a specific date—March 1, 2018—which is the day York would have celebrated her 20th birthday.
The defendants also must pay York’s funeral costs, and all three are required to make at least one public speaking appearance to high school students to talk about what happened the night York died, and the dangers of binge drinking.
McCann says there are no winners in this case
McCann says despite the remorse, jail time for the defendants is appropriate, because a message needs to be sent….
York was a graduate of Stanley County High School in Fort Pierre. She was a Marketing and Business Management student at LATI at the time of her death.
(KWAT)