Lawyer Gloria Allred to attend sentencing in LaFontaine-Greywind case, family hosting rally Thursday

Allred has been largely absent from public view in the murder case since LaFontaine-Greywind's family announced last fall that they retained her for legal counsel.

Allred plans to hold a news conference after Friday's sentencing, said Janel Herald, a spokeswoman for the victim's family. Messages left for Allred on Wednesday, Jan. 31, were not immediately returned.

Allred is known for representing sexual misconduct accusers of comedian Bill Cosby and President Donald Trump, as well as Nicole Brown Simpson's family during the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

LaFontaine-Greywind's family is inviting the community to join together for a "We Are Savanna" rally at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, at Fargo's Sanctuary Events Center, 670 4th Ave. N. There will be several speakers and a presentation honoring 22-year-old LaFontaine-Greywind, who was eight months pregnant when she disappeared from her north Fargo apartment in August.

Her body was later discovered in the Red River, and her newborn daughter was found with 36-year-old Brooke Lynn Crews, who lived upstairs in the apartment building.

Crews pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and providing false information to law enforcement. Her live-in boyfriend, William Henry Hoehn, has pleaded not guilty to the same charges. His trial is set for May.

Herald said the family is hosting the rally for the community to collectively express the impact of LaFontaine-Greywind's death. She said she wants District Judge Frank Racek, who will sentence Crews, to consider that the victim's relatives weren't the only ones shaken by the heinous crime.

"We received correspondence from across the globe regarding the impact her murder had on people. It wasn't just an incident that happened in North Dakota — her murder was felt very far and wide," she said. "It made us hold our children closer."

If you go

What: "We Are Savanna" rally

When: 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1

Where: Sanctuary Events Center, 670 4th Ave. N., Fargo

Those attending are asked to wear red in honor of missing and murdered indigenous women.