BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – A woman on a Montana American Indian Reservation will be charged with murder in the alleged beating death of a 13-month-old girl who was under her care, a tribal prosecutor said Tuesday.
Janelle Red Dog, 42, is accused of killing Kenzley Olson and putting her body in a dumpster before reporting the girl missing April 19.
That triggered an Amber alert for Kenzley in Montana and North Dakota. Authorities canceled the alert after Red Dog purportedly confessed and drew map that led them to the baby’s body.
Red Dog’s attorney, Mary Zemyan, says her client will plead not guilty during a Tuesday arraignment in tribal court on the Fort Peck Reservation, about 20 miles from the U.S.-Canada border. Zemyan has said the baby’s cause of death is unclear.
Additional charges could be filed later, Fort Peck Tribes Chief Prosecutor Scott Seifert said. Tribal law allows for a maximum three-year prison sentence on any one charge, with a combined maximum of nine years in prison and a $5,000 fine per charge.