Suspects charged in fatal Ronan hit-and-run

Two suspects made initial court appearances Monday afternoon in the fatal hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of Jami Sherman last month, after two anonymous callers provided tips to the Lake County Sheriff's office that led to the arrests.

Edward Ness, Sr., 35, and his common-law wife, Krista Orr, 34, appeared in Justice of the Peace Chuck Wall's courtroom Monday afternoon to hear the formal charges filed against them. Both of them will make an appearance in District Court today (Thursday), and will have an opportunity to enter a plea at that time.

Ness and Orr, both Tribal members, face felony charges of tampering or fabricating physical evidence which carries a maximum penalty of a $50,000 fine and/or 10 years in jail

Ness wept quietly as he waited to make his initial appearance, while almost a dozen members of Sherman's family and friends sat quietly in the small courtroom behind him.

Sherman's body was found on Leighton Road outside of Ronan in the early morning hours of July 1, after a passing motorist called 911, thinking Sherman had fallen out of a vehicle.

Investigators quickly realized she had been hit, and evidence at the scene indicated that the vehicle was a 1986-89 Toyota, possibly a truck.

Following up on the tips last week, Lake County Sheriff's detective Jay Doyle located Orr driving a 1989 Toyota sedan at mile marker 42 on U.S. Highway 93, near the Ninepipe area, and initiated a traffic stop. Orr, who had outstanding traffic warrants from Tribal court, was taken to Tribal Law and Order and interviewed.

Orr, the registered owner of the vehicle, said it was the vehicle involved in the accident, and told investigators that Ness was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident, according to Undersheriff Mike Sargeant.

Sargeant said the Toyota had "front end damage appropriate to what we were looking for," and that Orr had acknowledged trying to fix up the front end to avoid making it look like the vehicle had been in an accident, hence the felony charge of tampering with evidence.

A warrant for Ness' arrest was signed by Judge C.B. McNeil on Saturday, July 29th, and Ness was arrested later that day. He and Orr live at the Temporary Living Center in Pablo, they told Judge Wall during their initial appearance.

According to Sargeant, Ness acknowledged to detectives that he was driving the vehicle that night, and told them there were two other passengers in the car, but Orr was not one of them.

Both suspects were represented by public defender Noel Larrivee, but could be assigned different attorneys after they are arraigned in district court on Thursday.

Bond was set at $50,000 for Ness, and $25,000 for Orr.

Members of the Sherman family said afterward they were frustrated that Ness didn't face harsher charges, especially since he didn't come forward voluntarily, but chief deputy county attorney Mitch Young said in an interview after the court appearance that the county attorney's office can only prosecute charges based on the evidence they have, and all indications are that it was an accident, Young said.

"They told us that unless you can prove he was intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident is only a misdemeanor," Sherman's brother, Cody, said in an interview after the family met with the county attorney's office later Monday afternoon.

He said the family fears that Ness, if convicted, will only face a slap on the wrist.

"If he gets off on this little amount, we aren't going to be satisfied with it, but what are you going to do?" Cody Sherman said.

He said the family wasn't convinced of Ness' remorsefulness after seeing him cry in the courtroom Monday.

"If he was that sincere you would think he would have come forward before someone had to tattle on him," Sherman noted.

He said Sgt. Lucky Larson has been very helpful with working with the family to keep them informed, and that the family appreciated all of the outpouring of support from the community, too, which has helped them deal with Jami's death.

"It's been amazing. We are overwhelmed with the support from the community - from cards, to people coming by and calling," he said.