Ronan woman faces felony assault charge

A Ronan woman is accused of assaulting her friend after consuming alcohol. Nevona Rose Lafley, 18, entered a plea of not guilty in District Court at Polson July 11 to felony aggravated assault.

According to court records, on June 21, Lafley and the alleged victim were consuming alcohol in St. Ignatius, when Lafley told her friend to leave. The friend would later tell responding law enforcement officers that Lafley thought she was flirting with her boyfriend, which escalated into an argument before turning physical.

Lafley allegedly struck her friend multiple times in the face and head. The alleged victim thought she’d been hit with a large “softball”-size rock.

The responding officer waited with the friend at the Tribal Health Clinic in St. Ignatius until an ambulance arrived and transported her to St. Luke Hospital in Ronan.

The officer went to the scene of the altercation and questioned Lafley. Lafley stated the the friend was destroying things and being disrespectful. She admitted that she fought with her friend and that the woman’s injuries were from the fight. She said she used her hands and feet, but later acknowledged hitting her with a metal water bottle.

The officer learned later that the alleged victim had suffered a broken bone in her face and had to be airlifted from St. Luke Hospital to St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula for treatment of her injuries.

Judge John A. Mercer set a trial date of Nov. 25. The state did not object to releasing Lafley on her own recognizance as long as Lafley wears an alcohol monitoring device if she is released.