An 83-year-old Wyoming attorney, Sanford 'Sandy' Ress, has been charged with homicide by vehicle and related traffic offences after striking and killing Helga Hermine Tesar, a 73-year-old local fashion designer, with his car on 12 December 2025 in Jackson, Wyoming. Tesar was crossing the street at an intersection when she was hit and subsequently died from her injuries on 19 December after her family decided to honour her wishes to be allowed to pass away peacefully. This incident involves a prominent and wealthy figure in the Jackson Hole community, where Ress is known as a retired attorney and local civic watchdog, giving the case particular local significance.

Ress pleaded not guilty to the charges in January but is expected to change his plea at a hearing scheduled for 19 October 2026. If convicted of vehicular homicide, he faces up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine, though a plea agreement has not yet been made public. Ress, who manages a local publication and previously owned properties worth millions of pounds (including a $5.9 million home in Palo Alto, California, and a $2.3 million property in Alabama), has been active in local affairs, including filing lawsuits against the local hospital board. Tesar, an Austrian-born fashion designer who emigrated to the United States in 1986 with her family, was celebrated locally for her design work and had three adult children.