Man charged in federal court with involuntary manslaughter in crash

Taylor Gardipee Walker is facing a trial of involuntary manslaughter in federal court in Great Falls stemming from “gross negligence … namely reckless driving” Jan. 1, within the exterior boundaries of Fort Belknap Indian Reservation that led to the death of woman that morning.

Walker pleaded not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter before Magistrate Judge John Johnston in federal court in Great Falls.

Walker was released pending further proceedings.

A trial has been set before federal District Judge John Morris for Nov. 17.

A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana said Walker faces a maximum eight years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release if convicted of the charge.

The main indictment remains sealed, and the redacted indictment had little information.

A single-vehicle rollover that caused the death of a 30-year-old woman was reported Jan 1, with the driver arrested, but the names in that incident were not released at that time.

In that incident, Montana Highway Patrol reported the crash occurred at 4:14 a.m. Jan. 1, and the woman died later that day.

Alcohol and speed were both suspected in the crash, drugs are not, Highway Patrol reported.

The road conditions were reported as being wet and icy.

The woman was transported to Fort Belknap Indian Health Services then Northern Montana Hospital before she was flown to Great Falls. She was declared dead at 2:37 p.m. at a Great Falls hospital.

Fort Belknap Tribal Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating the case.

The Montana Highway Patrol narrative says the man was driving an Arca ATV and turned right from Coming Day Street on to Rodeo Drive at a high rate of speed when the ATV hit a patch of ice and he lost control. He overcorrected, oversteered and rolled the ATV on Rodeo Drive before it came to rest.

Both the man and woman were thrown from the ATV.

The man sustained minor injuries and the female passenger hit her head on the pavement, causing a head injury that led to her death.

Both the driver and the passenger were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash.