Lac du Flambeau woman sentenced in 2022 fatal hit-and-run

A 25-year-old Lac du Flambeau woman who was charged with four felony counts in Vilas County court was sentenced Nov. 20.

Laurie Wildcat was taken into custody by the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office in June of 2022 after she allegedly hit and killed 31-year-old Alejandro Retana-Echeverria on U.S. Highway 51 with her vehicle in the early morning hours of June 16, 2022.

The plea deal reached between Wildcat’s attorney Daniel Snyder and the state includes a guilty plea of the hit-and-run involving death charge, a Class D felony, and a guilty plea of a separate charge of an operating while intoxicated (OWI) first offense. Three other felony charges against Wildcat were dismissed, which include homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, homicide by use of vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration and homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle.

Court records of the Nov. 20 sentencing hearing show judge Martha Milanowski ordering Wildcat to serve a total of eight years in the Wisconsin state prison system—four years initial confinement and four years extended supervision. She is also to have no contact with the victim’s family and is eligible for programming. She was also given 93 days served of pre-sentence credit. 

For the OWI charge, Wildcat is to pay a fine of $937.50, seven-month license revocation, and serve an alcohol abuse program and have a driver’s safety plan. 

According to the initial criminal complaint filed in the case in June of 2022, Wildcat and the victim were together at a nearby bar in Arbor Vitae prior to the incident. She was said to have been employed by that bar. 

Retana-Echeverria, according to the complaint, left the bar at some point on foot and Wildcat subsequently left in her vehicle to look for him in order to give him a ride home. 

Investigators noted in the complaint they were told Wildcat had three alcoholic beverages before she left the bar. 

After Wildcat, who said hitting the victim was an accident, returned to the bar, she and a coworker contacted law enforcement to report what had happened. 

Upon arrival at the bar, investigators said Wildcat’s vehicle emitted an odor of marijuana. 

After receiving lab results, the complaint against Wildcat was amended on Nov. 3, 2022, to include the additional felony charges that would ultimately be dismissed. 

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].