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Highway 371 crash victim identified
Staff Writer The victim of Wednesday's fatal crash on Highway 371 in Backus was identified at 21-year-old Latoya A. Burks of Walker.
Walker, who was 9 months pregnant, was a passenger in a sport utility vehicle driven by her boyfriend, Westley Armstrong, 23, Walker. About 1:40 p.m. the SUV veered off Highway 371 south of Backus and crashed on its side into a stand of pine trees, the State Patrol reported.
Armstrong was treated for injuries at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd and arrested on probable cause for domestic assault. He is being held in the Cass County jail.
State Patrol Lt. Amy Stanfield said it is believed that Burks and Armstrong had some sort of argument just before the crash, but that it was premature to comment Thursday on the nature of the argument.
Cass County Attorney Earl Maus said formal criminal charges are expected to be filed against Armstrong Friday morning. Stanfield confirmed Burks was pregnant and said there are subdivisions within Minnesota's statutes dealing with criminal vehicular operation concerning an unborn child.
Another of Burks' children, 5-year-old Anton Charfaurus, was in the SUV at the time of the crash but escaped injury.
Burks' aunt, Tressa Acres, of Hattiesburg, Miss., said Burks had a doctor's appointment Wednesday in Crosby. She said her niece was a high-risk pregnancy, which forced her to leave her job at Northern Lights Casino.
Acres said Burks was a lifelong resident of the area and had dated Armstrong for about five years. Acres said her niece was a straight-A student who had been to college for a variety of careers, including nursing. She said Burks wanted to continue taking a variety of college courses so that she would be able to work in different fields.
"She was a good mom, so sweet," Acres said. "She was a good person, she was so beautiful. Anybody who knew her would tell you she was a good person, so kind and so sweet.
"Now my niece's daughter (Charfaurus) has to live without a mom ... It's not fair. She was too young."
Acres said she was flying to Brainerd Friday to be with her sister, who is Burks' mother.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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