Woman Charged with Vehicular Homicide After August Domestic Dispute Turns Deadly

Trinity M. Klein was charged in December with vehicular homicide while under the influence, stemming from the death of Jakob Allen Washburn in mid-August. Klein is currently 19, Washburn was 24 at the time of his death.

The crime reportedly occurred during a domestic dispute between the two. Klein has been described as Washburn’s girlfriend at the time.

Court records show deputies and ambulance services responded on August 15 around 8 PM to reports of a motor vehicle crash on First Street in Whitehall. Upon arrival, deputies observed an injured man lying on his back under a flatbed gooseneck trailer. Washburn was later identified as the victim. A woman at the scene, later identified as Klein, was “crying and screaming,” court records show.

Deputies were told by Klein at the scene that she and Washburn had argued; she alleged that he tried to choke her before she attempted to flee in her vehicle. She said Washburn “jumped on the hood of the car, screaming and yelling at her as she drove off,” records show.

Upon fleeing, Klein said she collided with the flatbed trailer when swerving to avoid a dog. Several witnesses observed Washburn on the hood as Klein drove at a high rate of speed, according to charging documents.

Klein acknowledged in her statement to deputies she “should have pulled over but didn’t,” adding that Washburn “didn’t deserve that,” records show.

Several months after the incident, toxicology reports revealed Klein was intoxicated and was over the legal limit while under the influence of marijuana.

Butte resident Wendy Goyette, Washburn’s mother, has been very vocal wondering why Klein isn’t in jail. She said she believes that if the circumstances were switched and it was her son who was charged with Klein’s death he’d be sitting in a jail cell.

In early February Klein pled not guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence. The charge carries up to a 30-year sentence in prison and/or up-to a $50,000 fine. Currently, Klein is out on her own recognizance in Dillon, Montana with multiple restrictions of her release.

“This has been a traumatic impact on me and my family,” Goyette said in an interview with the Montana Standard.

The Ledger will continue to update as information becomes available.