Suspect tied to Boise hospital ambush agrees to testify against conspirators
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Boise hospital ambush, homicides
An ambush at a Boise hospital left three Department of Correction officers with gunshot wounds and two suspects, including an escaped prisoner, fleeing from the scene. Police said the suspects, while they eluded capture, killed two men in North Idaho.
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A woman who helped two men escape after they attacked correctional officers at a Boise hospital struck a plea deal with prosecutors for her crimes, with a key stipulation: She must testify against the men she helped.
Tonia Huber, a 53-year-old woman from Filer, Idaho, was arrested alongside one of the men in the Twin Falls area after a 36-hour manhunt for the male suspects in March. She pleaded guilty to two felonies, possession of a controlled substance and harboring a wanted felon, in exchange for the remaining felony charge of attempting to elude a police officer to be dismissed, according to a plea agreement obtained by the Idaho Statesman.
Skylar Meade, who was incarcerated at Idaho’s maximum security prison, fled custody with co-conspirator Nicholas Umphenour after what police called a “brazen” and “violent” attack at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where Meade was being treated for self-inflicted injuries. Umphenour shot and injured two correctional officers, and a third was accidentally shot by police.
The men, who knew each other from prison, led law enforcement on a 36-hour statewide manhunt and allegedly killed two people in North Idaho before being apprehended in Twin Falls. Both Meade and Umphehour were sentenced to prison for their crimes in Ada County and now face first-degree murder charges in Nez Perce County. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against them if they are convicted.
Huber was found in a vehicle with Meade in the Twin Falls area after his escape. They fled from police in a Chevy pickup truck, at times driving up to 100 mph, until Huber drove into a Twin Falls Walgreens parking lot off of U.S. 93, where an officer struck the vehicle and arrested the pair, according to a Twin Falls Police Department affidavit. Umphenour was arrested separately on the same day.
Huber agreed to “testify truthfully” at all court hearings involving Meade and Umphenour, according to the plea agreement. If at some point Huber refuses to cooperate with prosecutors, they would rescind the deal.
The Prosecutor’s Office and Huber’s defense attorney also agreed to a recommended punishment of 10 years in prison for Huber, with the possibility of parole after four years.
When police arrested Huber, they found three fentanyl pills in the vehicle where she was sitting, according to an affidavit.
Prosecutors declined to file an additional persistent violator enhancement against Huber. The charge can be tacked on once someone has been convicted of three felonies and would have added at least another five years to Huber’s prison sentence. Huber has prior felony convictions for possession, according to online court records.
Huber is expected to be sentenced at the Twin Falls County Courthouse at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 24, online court records showed.
