Adult woman charged after 16-year-old boy was beaten for hours by group of teens in Stevensville

STEVENSVILLE, Mont. - At a party on the night of September 12, a 16-year-old boy was beaten by a group of other teens for three hours before he was dropped off at home with a collapsed lung, face and jaw injuries and "covered in blood," according to documents filed in Ravalli County court. On September 15, an arrest warrant was signed by a judge for 40-year-old Jessica Kalie McKay, the owner of the home where the party took place. 

At around 5:30 a.m. on September 13, the 16-year-old was dropped off outside his house by a driver later identified as McKay. The boy's mother told police that her son walked inside with "blood on his clothes...significant swelling on his face, and he had a black eye," according to court documents. She also said he told her he did not know what had happened and appeared intoxicated, and she was especially concerned because her son had suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child. 

While police were at the boy's residence, dispatch advised that a local woman had called to report that her daughter received several videos of the 16-year-old being assaulted. The woman told police that her daughter had been sent the videos by several people and was aware it had taken place during a party at the home of McKay and her teenage son. 

Police said in court documents that the videos showed the boy being punched, kicked, thrown to the ground, and strangled in a "chokehold" from behind multiple times. The videos showed several of the teens present holding alcoholic beverages as the 16-year-old victim cried on the ground, covered in blood, according to court documents. 

Court documents detail that multiple teens were involved in the assault. McKay's son told police that the group of teens made a "punch line" and took turns punching the victim, and said the total assault lasted for around three hours. McKay's son also said that the 16-year-old victim had arrived to the party without an invitation. 

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"At some point after his arrival the other youths at the party started talking about a rumor that the victim had assaulted a girl which made the group mad, but that the victim had started the 'fighting'," court documents stated. 

McKay told police in an interview, according to court documents, that a bonfire had been thrown at her house on the night of September 12 for a group of football players and their girlfriends, and said she'd been inside during most of the fighting. She told police that she saw the 16-year-old, who looked "pretty messed up" and "looked like shit." 

McKay dropped the boy off at his house, did not alert his mother or notify police. She later told police she'd "only been outside when [her son] was outside," which police said in court documents contradicted her earlier statement about having been inside during the fighting. Police said they determined that McKay had been present for a majority of the assault after further reviewing the video footage. 

Charges have not been filed against any of the teens involved in the assault as of Wednesday, September 23. 

McKay was arrested and booked on charges of felony aggravated assault by accountability and felony criminal endangerment.