Woman charged in hit-and-run death of Parsons

More than two years after Troy native Bronson Parsons was killed in a hit-and-run in East Missoula, a Stevensville woman faces felony charges related to his death.

Katie Garding, 23, is being charged with negligent homicide, failure to stop at an accident and tampering with evidence – all felonies. Her initial appearance is scheduled later this month in district court in Missoula.

Authorities believe Garding was drunk in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2008 when she allegedly swerved onto the shoulder of Highway 200 and struck 25-year-old Parsons from behind with her black Chevrolet Blazer. A friend who was with Parsons told police that the driver of a dark SUV didn’t brake after hitting him. Parsons reportedly fell off of the vehicle when it turned back into the lane of travel, the friend told police.

Garding allegedly tried to conceal damage to her vehicle and then traded it in about three weeks later, authorities said.

Police tips, extensive interviews and physical evidence led Montana Highway Patrol investigators Drew Novak and Rich Hader to Garding, the officers said.

Police located Garding’s vehicle after a man supplied a tip nearly a year after the accident. He said he had helped Garding repair her Blazer the day of the hit-and-run after she had supposedly hit a deer.

“The informant told us that he had taped up the broken headlight and turn signal,” Hader said. “Everything he told us matched up on the vehicle.”

Bruises on Parsons’s calves and marks on his pants matched the height and thickness of a steel homemade bumper on Garding’s Blazer, Novak said.

The MHP officers believe that two passengers in the vehicle were arguing about a gun when Garding allegedly hit Parsons. Garding’s ex-boyfriend, James Bordeaux, told police he was in the front passenger seat looking in the backseat at Paul McFarling when he felt the vehicle hit something that Garding had said was probably an animal.

McFarling told police that the details were fuzzy.

“He has elected to decide he was way too drunk and way too stoned to remember, but he does recognize that they were arguing about the gun,” Hader said. “He said that it is possible that they were over there and struck something.”

Bordeaux and other witnesses said that they had left an East Missoula bar about the time Parsons was hit at 1:46 a.m. Garding reportedly told police that they had left the bar at 11:30 p.m.

“She confirmed everything except she had them leaving the bar earlier and going a different direction,” Hader said.

MHP submitted the case to the Missoula County attorney’s office last October, according to Novak. Garding rejected a plea deal and charges were filed in court last week, he said.

“It’s a very sad event that happened here,” Novak said. “I’m just thankful that we can hopefully at least bring some degree of closure to the family.”

Parsons’s parents, Paul and Carol Parsons, and sister, Erin Leighty, reside in Troy. His other sister, Robin Cummings, lives in Washington. They have kept informed in the ongoing investigation.

“As a family, we’re just thrilled that this is finally going forward,” Carol Parsons said. “We sure hope that justice is served in the end. We’ll just have to see how things go.”

Garding is currently serving a three-year deferred sentence, Hader said, for stealing a handgun with Bordeaux from McFarling’s residence the day of the hit-and-run.

Garding faces a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison for the felony charges in connection to Parsons’s death.