Drunk driver ‘detonated bomb inside family'

Winnipeg Free Press

18 hours ago

The daughter of a 28-year-old mother of four killed by a drunk driver cried as she told a Winnipeg court how her family was 'destroyed' by the July 2021 highway collision.
'There is a part of me that wants to scream at you, freak out, tell you how much I hate you, but even that doesn't feel strong enough,' the now 17-year-old told Chantelle Deprez.
'You didn't just steal a life — you detonated a bomb inside a family and walked away alive.'
Deprez, 37, previously pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death for the crash that claimed the life of Angelina Wiens. She was sentenced Monday to three years in prison.
Since Wiens' death, her four children have been separated — her young son now lives with his father, while his three sisters live with an aunt and her family.
'I love my cousins and my auntie and uncle, but it is not the same without my mom,' Wiens' youngest, now 11-year-old daughter wrote in a victim impact statement provided to court.
'It's not fair, she was very young,' the girl said. 'She could have had a great future and a longer life if you weren't drinking.'
Support letters from family friends and her employer described Deprez as a good person, great mother and valued employee.
Five of seven support letters, as well as a psychiatrist report, described the crash as an 'accident.'
King's Bench Justice Ken Champagne said there was nothing accidental about someone getting behind the wheel after drinking.
'It is not an accident — it is a serious crime… an all-too prevalent crime that causes more deaths in Canada than any other crime,' often committed by otherwise law-abiding people with no criminal records, Champagne said.
Champagne rejected a recommendation from defence lawyer Jay Prober that Deprez be sentenced to two years house arrest, ruling a 'significant' sentence was necessary to satisfy the sentencing principles of deterrence and denunciation 'and more importantly send a message to the community at large that this kind of criminal conduct is unacceptable.'
Court heard Deprez was behind the wheel of a 1998 Ford Explorer, heading north on Highway 6 in the RM of St Laurent at about 11:30 p.m., when she veered into the southbound lane and into the path of Wiens' 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck.
Wiens 'was able to try an evasive manoeuvre; she braked, she tried to go on to the shoulder, but it just wasn't enough, the accused was too far over,' Crown attorney Thomas Boulton told court.
Deprez did not try to apply the brakes or veer out of the way and collided with the front right side of Wiens' truck, sending both vehicles spinning.
Emergency responders had to extract Wiens from her vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene. She wasn't wearing a seat belt.
Deprez was taken by air ambulance to Health Sciences Centre with a broken leg and hip and collapsed lung. She spent 12 days in hospital and was in a wheelchair for four months.
According to a pre-sentence report, Deprez told a probation officer that prior to the collision she had been watching movies at a friend's house and had one glass of wine before leaving to drive home to Winnipeg.
But according to an agreed statement of facts provided to court, Deprez told an air ambulance paramedic she had four glasses of wine prior to the collision. Medical records later obtained by police showed Deprez would have had an estimated blood-alcohol level of .246 at the time of the collision, more than triple the legal limit for driving.
Deprez told a probation officer she continued to drink following her arrest, which court heard was in violation of a bail condition set by Champagne prohibiting her from consuming alcohol. Prober argued Deprez did not remember the bail condition and was not consciously flouting Champagne's order, which he accepted.
Following the collision, Deprez was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. A psychiatric report described her as an 'emotional invalid.'
Deprez hasn't driven since the collision 'and may never drive again,' Prober said, adding she was 'genuinely remorseful' and that she pleaded guilty in the face of a problematic Crown case. None of the paramedics who treated Deprez said they saw any signs she was impaired, he said.
A crash reconstruction report, meanwhile, made reference to police finding open containers of alcohol in Wiens' truck and detecting the smell of marijuana.
Wiens was a suspended driver at the time.
Deprez apologized to Wiens' family, saying she was 'extremely sorry' for her decision to drink and drive.
'I am a mother as well, so I sympathize with you 100 per cent,' she said. 'I'm not taking any of this lightly. I wish none of this ever happened.'
Champagne prohibited Deprez from driving for five years following the completion of her prison sentence.
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Dean PritchardCourts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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