By Andrew Bates, Telegraph-Journal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A judge said that no sentence can address the loss felt by the family of a 16-year-old killed in a fatal accident as she handed out a maximum-length probation term to the driver.
Judge Kelly Ann Winchester sentenced an 18-year-old Charlotte County woman to a two-year probation term, 240 hours of community service and a four-year driving ban Wednesday on a charge of dangerous driving causing death. She pleaded guilty in July to the charge, which relates to a fatal single-vehicle crash on Route 778 in Pennfield on April 19, 2023, in which police said the woman, then 17 years old, was the driver and the vehicle’s only passenger, a 16-year-old, died at the scene.
“No sentence of this court can begin to address the grief, the pain, the heartache and suffering” of the family, the judge said.
A publication ban covers both the identity of the defendant and the victim in this case under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
At 6:23 p.m. on the day of the crash, the defendant was heading south on Route 778 in a car registered to a family member, Crown prosecutor Natasha Meier read from an agreed statement of facts. The defendant was driving with a learner’s permit but did not have a fully licensed passenger as required, Meier said.
The driver was wearing a seatbelt and the passenger was not, said Meier, who added that other than a light rain that day, conditions had been good and the road was clear.
The defendant was driving between 94 to 110 kilometres per hour with a posted speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour, Meier said. She said the vehicle hit the unpaved shoulder of the road and fishtailed, flipping four times before hitting a power pole, sending the car back into the road.
Emergency responders found the passenger dead at the scene after being ejected from the car during the rollover, according to Meier.
Police said the driver, who was found bruised in the driver’s seat, showed no signs of impairment, Meier said, but was “distressed” and had told a firefighter she was driving “way too fast.”
A traffic analyst found that excessive speed was a contributing factor in the crash, Meier said. Additionally, she said the vehicle was found not to be roadworthy.
The prosecutor said that it was a “very difficult matter” to handle in court.
“There isn’t a single person in this room who wants to be here or wishes things hadn’t worked out differently,” Meier said.
She said the defendant did not have a prior offence record and had pleaded guilty, adding that the excessive speed and lack of a full licence were aggravating factors. She said the maximum-length probation sentence, “lengthy” driving ban and community service was a fit sentence.
Seven victim impact statements were submitted from family and friends who declined to read them before the court.
The statements show their “overwhelming sadness and grief” in the wake of their tragic loss, Meier said. She said she was struck by “the loss of potential” shown in statements about not being able to spend time with the girl as she passes life’s milestones.
“This is devastating. It’s something that just can’t be repaired,” she said.
The defendant’s lawyer, Charles Bryant, said he agreed with Meier, and that he has spoken to his client about her “deep sense of guilt and responsibility” in the victim’s death.
“This is unlike any other sentencing I’ve done,” he said, with no problematic pattern of behaviour but “one terrible sequence of events that has altered so many lives.”
The one request Bryant had was for the driving ban to be limited to two years as part of the probation order, and that it have an exception to allow travel to and from work.
The defendant stood to address the court and cried for a moment before apologizing to the victim’s friends and family, calling her “my best friend.”
‘If I could take it all back, I would. If I could switch spots with her, I would,” she said. “It was just, I didn’t mean for anybody to get hurt.”
Winchester said the family’s loss is “heartbreakingly described” in the victim impact statements, which depict the victim as an “outgoing, energetic, intelligent young woman.”
“She was a great daughter, a great sister, a great friend,” the judge said.
The victim’s mother “said it all” when she wrote that they lost not only their daughter that day, “but we lost ourselves,” the judge said.
She said that in youth sentencings, a judge has to choose the “least restrictive sentence possible” which serves the principles of accountability for the offender and reintegration into society.
While custody is available, Winchester said that has been reserved for cases where the defendant is not remorseful. The defendant acknowledged responsibility and remorse and had co-operated with police, the judge said, and was likely to follow court orders.
The defendant, who has since moved and completed high school, “realizes what she has done,” the judge said.
“She ultimately is sentenced to a life sentence here today as a result,” Winchester said.
The judge accepted the sentence recommendation, including the full driving ban, as well as requirements to be of good behaviour, appear at court, communicate with a supervisor and attend counselling.
