A woman was arrested following a grand jury indictment of involuntary manslaughter.

Jalene B. Powaukee, 40, of Lapwai, was indicted on the charge June 26 and appeared before 2nd District Judge Mark Monson on Monday. An arraignment is scheduled before Monson today.

Powaukee was previously charged with failure to report the death of Desmond G. L. Oatman in February. The maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter is 10 years in prison as well as a $20,000 fine.

Powaukee had an already scheduled court hearing before Monson on Monday relating to a probation violation evidentiary hearing. However, the hearing was modified to address the new involuntary manslaughter charges, according to court minutes.

Nez Perce County Chief Deputy Prosecutor April Smith requested a continuance of the hearing because the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office needed to change an offense listed in the records from failure to report a death to involuntary manslaughter.

Monson noted that Powaukee had an active warrant signed at 3:56 p.m. on June 26 by 2nd District Judge Michelle Evans in relation to the new charge, and rescheduled the probation violation hearing, according to court minutes. Bond for the involuntary manslaughter charge was set by Evans at $500,000, according to court documents.

Public defender Lawrence Moran asked that Monson address Powaukee’s warrant and custody status based on the new charges.

Smith said the indictment marked the first time Powaukee was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but “understands facts are similar to the failure to report a death charge,” according to court minutes.

The indictment was filed June 26 and when Powaukee appeared before Monson on Monday she hadn’t been taken into custody on that charge yet. Monson said that typically Powaukee would have appeared before a magistrate judge to be “essentially arraigned on the warrant.” Attorneys agreed to do that with Monson, according to court minutes.

Monson advised Powaukee of her rights, kept Moran as her public defender and set an arraignment on the indictment. Monson then heard arguments for bond, with Smith requesting that bond remain at $50,000.

The original bond related to the failure to report a death was set at $10,000 on June 2 by Magistrate Judge Victoria Olds. Smith told Monson that a summons that was issued was later turned into a warrant, which is how Powaukee was first seen on the charges.

Smith said the difference is that when the prosecutor’s office first filed the failure to report a death charge “there were facts that were not known to the state at the time,” according to the court minutes. Those facts, Smith said, include that Oatman “was alive at the time she dumped his body” and “that is why the State dismissed (the failure to report a death charge) and pursued the involuntary manslaughter, is because new facts came to light,” according to the court minutes.

Monson kept the bond in place for Powaukee’s current case and reduced the bond for the new charge to $100,000. Moran said that arrangement will allow Powaukee to have “minimal disruption in her ability to assist” Moran’s office with the involuntary manslaughter charge, according to court minutes.

Monson then asked the deputy to take Powaukee into custody, according to court minutes.

By Monday, Moran had filed a motion for the transcript of the grand jury proceeding that took place June 26. Grand jury files are sealed.

The failure to report a death case was filed Feb. 7 and dismissed in June. The criminal complaint for the case states that “on or about” March 18, 2022, Powaukee allegedly prevented the discovery and failed to notify the coroner and/or law enforcement of the location of Oatman’s body.

At 6:47 p.m. on March 18, 2022, Lewiston police officers responded to the area behind 315 20th St. N in Lewiston for a report of an unconscious man in the alley, who was later identified as 24-year-old Oatman. Lewiston Fire Department paramedics attempted to resuscitate Oatman and took him to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to the probable cause affidavit.

A witness reported he found Oatman behind a building used for storage by the Lightning Horse Bar and Grill. He reported that Oatman was cold to the touch and his lips were blue and he didn’t know how long he had been there. The first law enforcement officer to arrive was an Idaho State Police trooper who reported Oatman in a similar condition, but felt that his stomach was warm when he began life-saving measures, according to the affidavit.

Investigators later spoke with medics who arrived on scene who reported that they administered six doses of Narcan, a substance that can counteract an overdose of opioids. One of the medics reported that Oatman had pulseless electrical activity, which meant that there was electrical activity in his heart. However, they couldn’t get a pulse. One of the medics “speculated that Oatman had been down” approximately 10 minutes before they arrived, according to the affidavit.

Investigators received Oatman’s autopsy report in May 2022, and his death was determined to be the result of multi-drug intoxication including methamphetamine, ethanol and fentanyl and an “unattended drug overdose,” according to the affidavit.

Law enforcement reviewed video footage from a surveillance camera in the area, which showed a red SUV drive into the alley at 5:35 p.m., and a woman getting out of the driver’s seat and taking Oatman’s body from the passenger side and leaving him on the ground. Officers saw a partial license plate number and later found that it was a 2001 Honda CRV out of Washington. Using surveillance cameras, law enforcement followed the route of the Honda into the alley, where it drove away, according to the affidavit.

Nez Perce Tribal Police were contacted and one of the officers believed that the driver of the vehicle was Powaukee. Nez Perce Tribal Police and the FBI responded to the Clearwater River Casino, where the Honda had been located and allegedly saw Powaukee enter the vehicle in surveillance video. Although some of the survelliance video found by law enforcement allegedly showed Powaukee wearing different clothings and hairstyle from the surveillance video of the alley, further investigation found footage allegedly showed Powaukee matched the image of the woman in the alley where Oatman was found.

Powaukee was taken to the Lewiston Police Department and said she “kind of” knew Oatman but denied leaving him or his body. She listed different locations of where she was in Lewiston during the day, but allegedly omitted some of the locations when she was asked again. She also allegedly didn’t give officers information on who had access to the Honda.

Powaukee denied it was her in the video and was taken back to the casino by Lewiston police. Later in the week investigators made other attempts to interview Powaukee and get more information from her, but she requested a lawyer, according to the affidavit.

On Dec. 2, 2022, investigators drove the route that Powaukee allegedly took from the casino to the alley to see if it matched the timing of the surveillance video as well as times when the vehicle was not on seen on surveillance videos, which showed “it is possible to drive from the Casino to the area where the Honda was first captured on video,” according to the affidavit.

Investigators in January then spoke with Idaho Probation and Parole, which recommended filing an arrest warrant for Powaukee for a new felony charge while she was on probation for a previous charge of possession of a controlled substance.

Law enforcement requested an arrest warrant for the charge of failing to notify law enforcement of a death with the intent to prevent discovery of the manner of death, according to the affidavit. That charge was later dismissed without prejudice, meaning that it could be refiled, on June 7 “upon the grounds and for the reason(s) that the interests of justice would be best served thereby,” according to the court document. The motion to dismiss was signed by Magistrate Judge Victoria Olds.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.