In brief: Parents of dead child are homeless
The director of a Coeur d’Alene homeless center said that the family that lost a child Sunday after their car slid into Fernan Lake is homeless.
Evan Deshazer, 5, died, and his sister, River Deshazer, 1, remains in serious condition at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center following the 1:45 p.m. accident on Fernan Lake Road.
The children’s parents, Sarah Deshazer, 25, and Michael Deshazer, 28, were able to escape but could not reach the children before their vehicle dropped into the lake. Authorities estimate the children were under water for 15 minutes.
“The Deshazers were a homeless family and have been Fresh Start clients for a while now,” said Howard Martinson, director of the homeless drop-in center on East Sherman Avenue, in a news release. “There’s a huge hole in our collective hearts. We are so sorry for their loss.”
Martinson said an account has been opened at Idaho Independent Bank to benefit the family. Donations can be made at any branch of the bank to the Deshazer Donation Account, No. 0100067891, care of Justine Graybeal, trustee.
CdA man charged with hate crime
A Coeur d’Alene man faces five years to life in prison if convicted of a hate crime under Idaho’s repeat offender law.
Joel Townsend Diekhoff, 29, remains in the Kootenai County Jail on $50,000 bond for malicious harassment.
Diekhoff was arrested Saturday after Demetrius K. Lee, 39, said a white man with Aryan tattoos yelled slurs and threatened him for walking in front of his house near South 19th Street and East Mullan Avenue.
Lee said the man, whom police identified as Diekhoff after interviewing witnesses, came out of the house with three other men to “beat him up.”
Lee returned to the area with a baseball bat and had a heated conversation with Diekhoff before calling police.
Diekhoff has previous convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm in Washington state in 2005 and theft in Georgia in 2000, according to court documents filed this week in Kootenai County District Court. Idaho law calls for criminals to serve five years to life in prison for felony crimes if convicted of two previous felonies.
Kootenai Point fire information sought
Officials from fire agencies in North Idaho are seeking information about a fire that started at 9 a.m. on July 26 at Kootenai Point on Lake Pend Oreille.
The point is located between Oden Bay and Kootenai Bay on the north shore of the lake. Fire officials from the Northside Fire District and Idaho Department of Lands particularly want to know about anyone using that area before the fire started.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Northside Fire District at (208) 265-4114; Idaho Department of Lands at (208) 263-5104; or the Coeur d’Alene Interagency Dispatch at (208) 772-3283.