CASPER — A 34-year-old Casper woman pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court Friday to four charges related to a Nov. 7, 2025, wrong-way crash that killed a 43-year-old Casper woman and severely injured her 78-year-old father.
Carissa Westphal appeared in Judge Joshua Eames' courtroom with her attorney Nathan Jeppsen of Rock Springs. She used a crutch under right arm and limped to the podium for her appearance in civilian clothes.
She is free under a $50,000 cash bond.
Eames asked Westphal if she understood the charges and potential penalties against her. She said she did. Those charges include aggravated vehicular homicide, driving while under the influence with serious bodily injury, and two counts of reckless endangerment.
Eames asked how she would plead to the charges.
“Not guilty,” she said.
Jeppsen then asked the judge to consider modifying his client’s bond to allow her to move to her father’s residence in Thornton, Colorado, due to her physical condition. The attorney said her father would be able to help take her to physical therapy and other medical needs.
He said Westphal would do whatever was necessary to meet her court-ordered daily alcohol testing requirements while she is out on bond.
Westphal has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and seeking counseling, Jeppsen said.
“She would sign a waiver of extradition in the matter,” Jeppsen said.
Despite concerns from District Attorney Dan Itzen, Eames allowed the request, ordering that her daily testing remain in place despite the move.
“She would maintain testing here until we get it that set up,” Jeppsen said.
Eames said the case was set for trial in May, but Jeppsen said he would not be available for that date and would file a waiver to the state’s speedy trial requirement.
Background
Charges against Westphal stem from a wrong-way nearly head-on crash on CY Avenue in southwest Casper on Nov. 7 that killed Mandy Butler, a mother of two, and injured her father, Randy Butler.
Casper Police were called to the 5300 block of CY Avenue near the entrance of Tractor Supply just after 9 p.m. on Nov. 7 and found wreckage from Westphal’s Nissan and the Mandy Butler’s Toyota RAV4 and a clear indication that the Nissan was heading eastbound in the divided highway’s westbound lane.
Mandy Butler was found pinned inside her vehicle. She was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center with multiple injuries and died shortly after arriving at the hospital, according to the police affidavit in the case.
Randy Butler was ejected from the Toyota through the windshield and lay unconscious on the hood. Once at the hospital, he was determined to have massive head trauma, multiple spinal fractures, a fractured left hip, shattered right femur, and several broken ribs on his left side that required several surgeries and placement in the Intensive Care Unit, the affidavit stated.
Westphal ‘Conscious, Stable’
Westphal was pinned inside the Nissan with injuries to her knee.
“She was conscious, stable, and remained so while extricated from her vehicle,” the police affidavit states.
A witness told police he had to swerve to avoid a collision with the Nissan as he headed westbound on CY Avenue.
After just missing his vehicle, the witness said it continued eastbound in the westbound lane with only its running lights on. The driver said he looked in his rearview mirror and saw the Nissan’s brake lights activate but did not see the collision.
The affidavit records other witnesses who were on the road at the same time and witnessed the collision between the Nissan and the Toyota with the Nissan traveling the “wrong way” on the road.
At the crash site, Westphal “presented slurred speech and inconsistent statements to those questions asked of her,” the affidavit states. She was informed of her arrest, and a search warrant was obtained for blood samples that were taken at Banner Wyoming Medical Center on her arrival at the hospital.
The Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation lab on Dec. 2 issued results from a blood sample taken at 11:21 p.m. on Nov. 7 at the hospital that showed an alcohol concentration of 0.15% in Westphal’s blood, nearly twice the legal limit in Wyoming.
The police affidavit states that Westphal told police she had drank one-half to three-quarters of a 24-ounce White Claw alcoholic beverage after her work at a medical clinic and gone to her boyfriend’s shop and there drank two 16-ounce Coors Light beers and one-half to three-quarters of a cup of an apple cider alcoholic beverage.
The aggravated vehicular homicide charge against Westphal is punishable by up to 20 years in prison while the driving under the influence with serious bodily injury charge carries penalties of up to seven years in prison and a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $10,000.
The reckless endangering charges both carry penalties of up to one year in prison.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
