BILLINGS - A Billings woman has been sentenced to prison for causing the death of her boyfriend who was found fatally injured outside a South Side business.
Nicola Ann Beverlin, 40, was ordered at a sentencing hearing Wednesday in Yellowstone County District Court to serve 20 years at the Montana Women's Prison, with five years suspended, for negligent homicide. Judge Rod Souza also ordered Beverlin to serve a five-year consecutive suspended sentence for failure to stop or remain at the scene involving death or serious bodily injury.
As part of a plea agreement, Souza dismissed a charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence, according to court records.
Beverlin was charged for the Aug. 12, 2023 death of Luis Torres who was found in the grass in front of a business near the intersection of King Avenue East and City Center Circle.
Investigators, aided by surveillance video from the business, determined that a vehicle driven by Berverlin veered off the road and stopped on the lawn at about 9:30 p.m.
Torres got out of the vehicle and Beverlin struck the man as she pulled into a parking lot. In the video, the woman is recorded getting out of the vehicle and walking over to where the man can be seen lying in the grass.
Beverlin parked and returned to where Torres was lying and "spent the next approximately forty minutes interacting with" the victim, according to court records.
Surveillance video from another business captured audio of the incident in which "the female is heard saying what sounds like, 'Dude, move,'" court records state.
Beverlin then returned to the vehicle and left the area.
An autopsy later determined Torres died from a condition known as "flail chest." The autopsy found Torres had suffered nine broken ribs on his right side and three broken ribs on his left side, which caused his death.
Investigators learned about a relationship between Torres and Beverlin and located the woman and the vehicle. During interviews, Beverlin claimed to have been with Torres the evening before his body was found and said they had consumed numerous alcoholic drinks. She stated she did not recall causing the injuries that led to his death.
