WHITEHALL — A five-year-old boy is dead following a medical emergency north of Whitehall on Friday, April 24, 2026, and Kathryn Lesal Garaas has been arrested on a pending charge of homicide.
Several agencies responded to the scene, including the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, Jefferson Valley EMS and deputies from the Madison County Sheriff's Office.
First responders provided medical aid to the child, but the boy did not survive.
Authorities have not yet released information about the cause of death.
Investigators took Garaas to the Jefferson County Detention Center in Boulder, where she remains jailed.
According to a GoFundMe fundraiser, the boy is reportedly Reign Tyler Blair, and Garaas is allegedly his biological mother; authorities have not yet publicly confirmed either statement.
The fundraiser states:
I am asking with all of my heart for help for this wonderful Father, Tyler. The pain he carries is immeasurable, and no resolution can come that will ease it. Reign is his purpose, his love, and his life from the moment he took his first Breathe. There are no words for the kind of strength it takes for a man to be a single father, and the life he built for Reign is one we take solace in knowing was fulfilled with love, laughter, and precious joy. The worst days are yet to come, and the last thing Reign’s loved ones need added to this nightmare is the weight of simply trying to survive day to day.
Click here if you would like to donate.
The Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation is now leading the case.
No other details have been released at this point.
We will update you when we get more information.
