Woman sentenced for Pablo shooting

By MEGAN STRICKLAND

for the Lake County Leader

Lake County District Judge James Manley sentenced a woman to sixteen years in Montana State Prison last week for a string of crimes that included shooting a woman on Dec. 14.

Ashley Rae Hewankorn, 29, was sentenced to 10 years in Montana State Prison for one count of felony assault with a weapon and a concurrent 10 years in prison for one count of aggravated burglary for shooting a woman at a Pablo home on Dec. 14.

According to court documents the bullet went through the victim’s shoulder and a lung and ended up lodged against her spine.

Additionally, the plea agreement resolved three other cases in which Hewankorn received a six-year deferred sentence for felony drug possession, three years in Montana State Prison for burglary and three years for felony forgery. Manley’s sentencing went beyond the bounds of a plea agreement, but Hewankorn did not withdraw her guilty pleas when the opportunity was offered.

Hewankorn was ordered to pay $24,000 in restitution for her crimes, although that total did not include the cost of medical bills incurred by the shooting victim.

Earlier this year Isaac Fleming, 17, was sentenced to 10 years in Montana State Prison, with five suspended for firing shots at a different person at the same residence two days prior to Hewankorn’s shooting. Fleming returned the next day with Hewankorn in tow, when the second shooting occurred.

Law enforcement searched for Hewankorn for two days before she was arrested in Browning. Fleming was caught 11 days later on Christmas at a residence in Pablo.