BUTTE — A Butte woman who is involved in the case of a hit and run that took the life of a man who was lighting fireworks on the 3rd of July several years ago is changing her plea. Now the family of the man who was killed is speaking out.
"Austin was a loving, very kind, caring person. He never gave up, and he had so many goals and was going to make so many things happen that now he no longer can," says Brandi Edwards, the cousin of Austin Nieves.
Family seeks justice as guilty plea entered in fatal Butte hit-and-run case. Sentencing scheduled for February with a potential 10-year sentence.
Edwards reads words written by her aunt, Stacey Edwards, the mother of the 23-year-old Butte man who was struck and killed on West Granite Street near the campus of Montana Tech.
"Everything that has happened...it has torn apart a family. It has hurt a family," Brandi Edwards.
She and over a dozen family members were present in district court as Shaina O’Brien, who was 20 years old at the time of the accident in 2023, agreed to plead guilty to a felony count of failing to render aid at the scene of an accident that resulted in death. As part of the plea agreement, a charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence was dismissed.
"The penalty for that offense, which is a felony, is not less than one year or more than ten years of incarceration or... and/or a fine of $50,000," said Judge Mike Salvagni during the hearing.
Shaina O’Brien’s sentencing hearing is set for Feb. 9, 2026. She remains free on a $200,000 bond.
"I want justice for my cousin and my family. They deserve it, and he never deserved to have what happened to him happen."
