Slain girl’s mother, CdA reach settlement
The mother of slain teen Carissa Benway has been awarded a $30,000 settlement to drop a civil suit against the city of Coeur d’Alene.
Bonnie Heilander sued the city in June 2004, saying the Police Department ignored her attempts to report the 14-year-old as a runaway and, despite her request to do so, didn’t run a background check on the man now serving a life sentence for Benway’s murder.
According to the settlement agreement released Tuesday, the city admits no wrongdoing. Both parties said they couldn’t comment on the settlement because of a confidentiality agreement.
In the suit, Heilander said she discovered her daughter missing from home on June 19, 2000. She said she soon received a phone call from Carissa, saying she would return by July 19 for a court date.
Heilander said she received a call from David “Coon” Merritt, the father of one of Benway’s friends, three days after she left home. Merritt, whose Post Falls trailer was a popular hangout for wayward teens, asked if he could have a copy of Benway’s birth certificate so he could allegedly falsify the document to make it appear she was 18 years old, the suit said.
According to previously published reports, Merritt wanted to get Benway a job selling pornographic material.
After her conversation with Merritt, Heilander said, she contacted Coeur d’Alene police to report the teen missing and told an officer about her conversation with Merritt. In the suit, Heilander said she asked the officer to run a background check on the Post Falls man.
When Benway failed to appear for her court date, Heilander said, she attempted to report her daughter as missing but didn’t get help from police until she went to the station and refused to leave.
Months later, hunters discovered a human jawbone in the Coeur d’Alene National Forest that was later determined to belong to Benway.
Kootenai County sheriff’s detectives conducted a background check on Merritt that revealed an extensive criminal history and identified him as a violent sexual predator.
In the suit, Heilander maintained that Coeur d’Alene police could have uncovered Merritt’s violent history much sooner and saved her daughter’s life.
Benway had gone camping with Merritt and his 16-year-old son, Cody, over the Fourth of July weekend. Detectives believe the girl was tied to a pole, raped and beheaded about July 1.
There was a pact between father and son to kill Benway to earn Cody Merritt a black rose tattoo indicating he had killed, according to investigators.
Heilander filed a suit against the city of Post Falls and Kootenai County in 2002 that was settled out of court in 2004. Both the city and county agreed to use a video of Benway’s life and show it to their officers in an attempt to “put a face to” runaways.
The city and county also agreed to make donations in Benway’s name of $500 to Project Safe Place, which provides access to help and supportive resources for young people in crisis.