Martin: Questions arise in dramatic crash that cost young girl her life
One can't help but wonder what in the world could have been going through Calgarian Duane Nepoose's mind as he raced through the southern portion of the city six months ago in a stolen van.
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With not a police cruiser in sight, Nepoose could have at any time pulled over and fled the stolen vehicle on foot.
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He also could have slowed down to at or near the speed limit and obeyed traffic signals as there were no flashing lights behind him in hot pursuit.
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The only police present anywhere nearby was the HAWCS helicopter hovering above him high in the sky and if that was what Nepoose was fleeing he was doomed to get caught.
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Even the officer providing the narration lost his composure slightly as Nepoose rammed into Amanda Reitmeier's compact hatchback, causing a chain reaction involving five vehicles in total.
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'Oh, zero-one, zeros-one. We're gonna need EMS at Southland and Macleod. Massive zero-one,' the officer said, his voice wavering somewhat as he referred to the police code of 10-01 for an injury accident.
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The impact left Reitmeier and her 12-year-old daughter, Madison Desjardins, seriously injured. More tragic though, it also took the life of her nine-year-old daughter, Victoria Desjardins.
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The video was played in a Calgary courtroom earlier this month after Nepoose pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including dangerous driving causing the young girl's death.
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His sentencing hearing is set for September.
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The facts placed on the record before Justice Indra Maharaj and read in by Crown prosecutor Todd Buziak and agreed to by the offender and his lawyers, Rebecca Snukal and Sam Taylor, did not do justice to the horrific conduct of Nepoose on that day.
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But the HAWCS video, as well as body-worn camera footage from one of the first officers on the scene, which not only captured Nepoose's arrest but also the frantic but ultimately futile attempts to save the little girl's life, certainly did.
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Story continues below advertisement 'For me, it wasn't about the delay,' said Riez, 'it was about getting Turo to recognize that there is an issue, and it's not just Turo, it's all car share.' View image in full screen Krisztian Riez tells Global News, he's been afraid to cross the Canada-U.S. border since February 19, the day he and a friend were detained after CBSA officers found traces of fentanyl in the vehicle he rented from Turo. Global News Riez, who also has family in the U.S., told Global News that he's now afraid to cross the border because if he had happened to be detained at American customs, he says he and his friend probably would've been thrown in jail. 'I have not crossed the border since then, neither has my buddy, or even flying. I'm very hesitant to fly across the border because what is going to happen,' said Riez. As for why he's continuing the fight, Riez told Global News, 'I think, for me, it's the (potential) killing my goddaughter, that hits home. And I have two kids and for that reason alone, that's the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing — is to create as much awareness as possible.'
