Whitegrass hoping for bail

By Delon Shurtz on April 14, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

The lawyer for a 37-year-old woman charged with the murder of her former common-law spouse last spring, hopes a judge will agree to release his client on bail.
James Rouleau explained Tuesday during a brief hearing in Lethbridge provincial court, that he is planning to schedule a bail hearing in Court of Queen’s Bench for his client, Melissa Dumaine Whitegrass, who is charged with first-degree murder.
In the meantime, the accused remains in custody at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, and her matter returns to provincial court next Tuesday to be spoken to.
Whitegrass, a decorated war veteran who was injured while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, is accused of deliberately striking and killing her ex-spouse with her vehicle last June. After a lengthy investigation, she was finally arrested and charged last month.
At about 4 p.m. on June 1, 2020, Lethbridge police responded to a report of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian in the west alley of the 900 block of 13 Street South.
The victim, 30-year-old Austin James Forsyth of Lethbridge, was rushed to Chinook Regional Hospital where he later died.
During a subsequent news conference police said a woman struck Forsyth with her vehicle while he and another person walked in the alley. The other person walking with Forsyth was nearly struck, as well.
Although the passenger in the vehicle fled the scene, the driver remained behind and claimed the collision was accidental.
Police said, however, evidence collected at the scene and during an extensive investigation in the following months, led them to believe the incident was intentional.
At about 6 p.m. March 2 police arrested Whitegrass at a northside residence and charged her with first-degree murder, dangerous driving causing death, and assault with a weapon.
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