CALGARY -- Lethbridge Police Service officials confirm a first-degree murder charge has been laid in connection with a 2020 collision that killed the former common-law husband of the accused.

According to police, 37-year-old Melissa Dumaine Whitegrass faces charges in connection with a crash that killed a pedestrian.

On the afternoon of June 1, 2020, officers responded to an alleyway in the 900 block of 13th Street S. following reports a Dodge Ram had struck a man.

The suspect vehicle fled prior to the arrival of police.

The victim was transported by ambulance to Chinook Regional Hospital where he died as a result of his injuries. The deceased has been identified as 30-year-old Austin James 'A.J.' Forsyth of Lethbridge.

Following an investigation that spanned nine months, Whitegrass was arrested Tuesday evening at a home on Lethbridge's north side.

LPS officials confirm Whitegrass and Forsyth had been in a common-law relationship that ended in 2017.

The accused has been charged with:

  • First-degree murder;
  • Dangerous driving causing death, and;
  • Assault with a weapon.

Whitegrass is scheduled to appear in court on March 9.