Great Falls woman accused of killing 2-month-old son, assaulting daughter
A Great Falls woman is accused of killing her two-month-old son and assaulting her one-year-old daughter during an incident early Friday morning.
Whisper Rayne Hawkbear, 20, is charged in Cascade County District Court with deliberate homicide and assault on a minor, both felonies. The following account is from charging documents. The defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty.
At about 4:15 a.m. on Friday, officers with the Great Falls Police Department carried out a welfare check at an apartment on the 2200 block of 23rd Avenue South.
Hawkbear had reportedly called 911 around 2:30 a.m. in a panic, then calmed herself down and canceled the call, before calling again around 4:15 a.m. requesting assistance.
Hawkbear initially would not let officers into the apartment. After she eventually did, she handed her two-month-old son to an officer. The boy was allegedly bleeding from his face, and the officer immediately attempted CPR on the child.
While the officer performed CPR on the boy, according to court documents, Hawkbear said, “It goes on for like five seconds” and “I just beat him up for like five seconds, he’s dead isn’t he?”
Officers then heard Hawkbear’s daughter, who is approximately 16 months old, crying in a bedroom. The girl was bleeding from a severe cut on her nose, according to court documents. EMTs also discovered a burn on the girl’s leg above her knee and also suspected a head injury.
Officers discovered blood on the bed and on the carpet to the side, according to the charging documents, as well as a broken mirror. Officers also stated drug paraphernalia was found in the apartment, although there are no drug charges listed in Monday’s court filings.
Hawkbear’s son was pronounced dead at the hospital at about 5:15 a.m.
During an interview with police, Hawkbear allegedly told GFPD she had made the first call to 911 at 2:30 a.m. because her children would not stop crying and she “has (post-traumatic stress disorder)” and “she wanted to sleep,” court documents read.
Following the first call, Hawkbear allegedly said she threw her son into the wall, hit him with a playpen and stomped on his head. She also allegedly told police that she slammed her daughter into a mirror several times. Hawkbear then went to sleep and woke up after 4 a.m. and found her son before again calling 911, charging documents state.
Hawkbear also reportedly consented to submitting a blood sample to police. During the investigation, officers learned that a man living out of state claiming to be the father of Hawkbear’s children had called Great Falls police last Wednesday requesting a welfare check on the children. The man reportedly told police that he suspected Hawkbear was using drugs and was concerned with her ability to care for the children, charging documents state.
Prosecutors have requested a $500,000 bond in the case, with GPS monitoring should Hawkbear post bail. A deliberate homicide conviction potentially carries a death sentence or life imprisonment. Hawkbear also faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the assault on a minor charge.
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls woman accused of killing 2-month-old, assaulting daughter