By: Devin Fry
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Travis Bell has been sentenced to six years in prison for the drunk driving crash that killed 6-year-old Katarina Louthain and seriously injured her mother near Grand Forks.
Grand Forks County District Judge Theodore Sandberg handed down the sentence Monday, the maximum Bell could receive under his plea agreement.
Bell, 43, of Fordville, pleaded guilty in January to criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular injury in the June 2024 crash along Highway 2 near the Grand Forks Airport. Investigators say he had been drinking when he rear-ended Nicole Louthain’s SUV at a red light. Katarina died days later in the hospital. Nicole was seriously injured.
Here is the full breakdown of Bell’s sentence:
- Count One – Criminal Vehicular Injury: 5 years, the maximum allowed
- Count Two – Criminal Vehicular Homicide: Sentenced to the maximum of 20 years, with 14 years suspended — leaving 6 years to serve
- The sentences run concurrently
- After release: 3 years of supervised probation and 2 years in the 24-7 sobriety program
In court Monday, the defense asked for a three-year sentence. Katarina’s mother, Nicole Louthain, read a 20-page victim impact statement and asked the judge to sentence Bell to 10 years, saying the three-to-six-year range was too short.
The case stretched nearly two years and included a major legal battle over key evidence. A district court judge initially ruled Bell’s chemical breath test results, showing a BAC of .130%, were inadmissible. The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed that decision in December 2025, with all five justices agreeing the lower court had misapplied the law.
Bell reached a plea agreement in January, just days before his scheduled jury trial was set to begin.
Nicole Louthain has been vocal throughout the case, calling for stricter DUI laws in North Dakota and pushing for accountability. She and her husband, Robert, have advocated for legislative change in Katarina’s name.
