Driver in deadly Boxing Day crash pleads guilty to dangerous driving
The man charged in the Boxing Day death of a young Calgary girl has pleaded guilty to charges relating to her death.
Nine-year-old Victoria Desjardins died after the vehicle she was in with her mom and sister was hit by a stolen van on Dec. 26, 2024.
On Friday, 30-year-old Duane Nepoose pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, as well as three counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm, robbery and flight from police.
The plea was entered in a Calgary courtroom as Victoria's family listened to an agreed statement of facts that outlined the day's events and watched four videos that supported the timeline.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
The first video was from a security camera at a Millrise Pharmasave. The Crown read a statement from the pharmacist that stated Nepoose entered the store around 9:20 a.m. and asked for a prescription refill. He then punched the pharmacist and stole his car keys, before fleeing in the stolen van.
Story continues below advertisement
The second video was from the Calgary Police Service's HAWCS helicopter and showed the van driving erratically through south Calgary and Tsu'tiina Nation before speeding up Macleod Trail, eventually hitting four other vehicles.
A dashcam video showed the moment of impact and the final video was from an officer-worn body camera that showed Nepoose being arrested before the officer opened the doors of the Reitmeier-Desjardins car to find the badly-injured family.
Amanda Reitmeier sat in the courtroom with family and friends watching her daughter's final moments play out, the family crying and holding each other as each video was played.
Family will have the opportunity to read victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing which will be heard by a judge. A date for the hearing will be set on June 13th.
'Whatever happens is not going to be enough because it can't and will never bring Victoria back,' said Kelsey Morash, a spokesperson for the family.
'It can't and will never undo the injuries sustained to Amanda and Madison and the psychological effects from that are going to be lifelong.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
2 hours ago
- Global News
Russian attacks on Ukrainian city of Kharkiv kill 4
Russian attacks targeting the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv killed at least four people and wounded more than two dozen others on Saturday, officials said, as hopes for peace dimmed further. The first wave on Ukraine's second-largest city was a large Russian drone-and-missile attack in the early hours. It killed at least three people and wounded 21 others, according to local officials. In the afternoon, Russia dropped aerial bombs on the city centre, killing at least one person and wounding five more, Kharkiv's mayor said. The warring sides also accused each other of trying to sabotage a planned prisoner exchange, nearly a week after Kyiv embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. Saturday's barrage — the latest in near daily widescale attacks on Ukraine — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Story continues below advertisement Kharkiv residents describe fiery trap As firefighters and emergency workers bustled around attack sites in Kharkiv, residents described the strikes that damaged their homes and nearly took their lives on Saturday morning. Alina Belous said that she had tried to extinguish flames with buckets of water to rescue a young girl trapped inside a burning building who had called out for help. 'We were trying to put it out ourselves with our buckets, together with our neighbours. Then the rescuers arrived and started helping us put out the fire, but there was smoke and they worried that we couldn't stay there. When the ceiling started falling off, they took us out,' she said. Local resident Vadym Ihnachenko said that he thought at first that it was a neighbouring building going up in flames. 'But when we saw sparks coming from the top, we realized it was our building,' he said. 1:51 Russian strikes on Kyiv a response to Ukraine's weekend airfield attacks 'More pressure on Moscow is required' Ukraine's air force said that Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defences shot down 87 drones and seven missiles. Story continues below advertisement Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in an X post. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. The Russian defence ministry on Saturday said that its forces carried out a nighttime strike on Ukrainian military targets, including ammunition depots, drone assembly workshops, and weaponry repair stations. There was no comment from Moscow on the reports of casualties in Kharkiv. Kharkiv's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said that the strikes also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said that it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. 2:25 Russia targets Ukraine with hundreds of drones, missiles in massive attack Children among the wounded Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said the morning's attacks saw two districts in the city struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the wounded were two children, a baby boy and a 14-year-old girl, he added. Story continues below advertisement Six people are believed to be trapped under the rubble of an industrial facility in Kharkiv's Kyiv district, The Kharkiv prosecutor's office said in a statement on Telegram. Contact with those trapped was lost and rescue attempts have been ongoing since early afternoon, it said, without naming the facility. On Saturday afternoon, Russian aerial bombs struck Kharkiv again, killing at least one person and wounding five others, the mayor said. The morning strikes also wounded two people in the Dnipropetrovsk province further south, according to local Gov. Serhii Lysak. Meanwhile, Russia's defence ministry said that its forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, over the country's south and west, including near the capital. Drone debris wounded two civilians in the suburbs of Moscow, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported. No breakthrough on a peace deal On Friday, Russia struck six Ukrainian territories, killing at least six people and wounding about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. A U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine, though the negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs. But both sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting. Story continues below advertisement Prisoner swap called into question Later on Saturday, Russia and Ukraine each accused the other of endangering plans to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action, agreed upon during direct talks in Istanbul on Monday that otherwise made no progress towards ending the war. Vladimir Medinsky, a Putin aide who led the Russian delegation, said that Kyiv called a last-minute halt to an imminent swap. In a Telegram post, Medinsky said that refrigerated trucks carrying more than 1,200 bodies of Ukrainian troops from Russia had already reached the agreed exchange site at the border when the news came. In response, Ukraine said Russia was playing 'dirty games' and manipulating facts. According to the main Ukrainian authority dealing with such swaps, no date had been set for repatriating the bodies. In a statement Saturday, the agency also accused Russia of submitting lists of prisoners of war for repatriation that didn't correspond to agreements reached on Monday. Story continues below advertisement It wasn't immediately possible to reconcile the conflicting claims. New video of airfield drone attack Ukraine's security service on Saturday released a video said to show its audacious attack on Russian air fields Sunday in which Kyiv said that 41 Russian military aircraft was destroyed. The video shows the flight path of one explosive-laden first person view, or FPV, drone – from takeoff from the roof of a modular building to the Belaya air field — where it appears to strike a Russian strategic bomber. Other aircraft are seen engulfed in flames, apparently from previous hits in Ukraine's 'Operation Spiderweb.' A previous round of negotiations in Istanbul, the first time Russian and Ukrainian negotiators sat at the same table since the early weeks of the full-scale invasion, led to 1,000 prisoners on both sides being exchanged. 0:28 Ukraine claims drone strike on Russian air bases as both sides prepare for peace talks –with files from The Associated Press' Joanna Kozlowska Story continues below advertisement
Vancouver Sun
8 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Prolific B.C. drunk driver could face deportation after dozens of driving bans over 30 years
A driver who has racked up 32 driving prohibitions or suspensions, as well as 16 24-hour driving bans, failed to convince a British Columbia judge he should get a lighter sentence than normal for drunk driving because more than six months in jail could get him deported to India. Vernon's Gurinder Pal Singh Bajwa, a permanent resident of Canada who escaped deportation in 2019 on an impaired driving conviction with a sentence of five months and 29 days, got a reduced sentence this time around because Mounties captured him on surveillance cameras using the toilet in a holding cell after he was arrested for impaired driving again on May 11, 2022, after rear-ending a white Hyundai Tucson with his Mercedes sport utility vehicle in the parking lot of a Wholesale Club. His blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. But the judge refused to lighten Bajwa's sentence on convictions for impaired and prohibited driving to a level that wouldn't have immigration consequences for the 57-year-old. Any sentence over six months can result in deportation from Canada. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'To accede to Mr. Bajwa's request for a (conditional sentence) or a reduction of the jail time on either count for the impact of the collateral immigration consequences to Mr. Bajwa and as a remedy (for breaching his Charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure), would bring the administration of justice into disrepute and result in an inappropriate and artificial sentence; in other words, an unfit sentence,' Judge David Patterson of B.C.'s provincial court wrote in a recent decision. Bajwa immigrated to Canada from India's Punjab region over 34 years ago. 'He received his first British Columbia driving prohibition on March 19, 1993,' said the judge. 'He has also accumulated a substantial number of additional Criminal Code convictions and Motor Vehicle Act infractions.' The Crown recommended Bajwa get between nine and 12 months in jail, a $2,500 fine and a five-year driving prohibition for the impaired driving charge, plus another four months behind bars for getting behind the wheel while he 'was subject to five separate driving prohibitions' or suspensions. 'I am flabbergasted that Crown counsel has only sought a four-month consecutive jail sentence (for driving while prohibited),' Patterson said in his decision dated June 2. 'Given the circumstances of the offence, it is hard to imagine a more suitable case for the two-year less-a-day maximum sentence allowed.' Bajwa's lawyer argued for a conditional sentence or no more jail time than he got in 2019 — five months and 29 days behind bars. He noted that would allow Bajwa to remain in Canada. The court heard Bajwa 'has no one in India' and that he's in the process of getting a divorce 'as his alcohol usage ruined his relationship with his estranged wife and his children,' said the judge, who noted they live in Canada. Eight days after he was caught drunk driving in May of 2022, Bajwa 'was very intoxicated at his daughter's wedding and smacked a plate of food out of her hand,' said the decision. 'He was subsequently convicted of assault … and handed a 60-day jail sentence followed by an 18-month probation order, which included having no contact with his estranged wife or children.' That was 'the last straw for the family, essentially,' said the decision. Bajwa 'claims that his problems with alcohol started when he was a roofer,' it said. 'He had a group of co-workers and they would often go drinking alcohol together. His alcohol consumption spiralled out of control.' After he was caught driving drunk in 2022, Bajwa 'began the process of getting his life together,' said the decision. 'He gave up drinking alcohol and took a few counselling sessions. He now lives with a close friend … and he is an active participant in the Vernon Sikh community.' Bajwa's 'moral blameworthiness is at the highest end of the spectrum,' said the judge. Patterson said he had 'considered the potential impact of a jail sentence of six months or more on him, including the possibility that he may be removed from Canada, his home for more than 34 years.' Bajwa got a letter from the Canada Border Services Agency in February of 2024 'alleging he may be inadmissible to Canada' for serious criminality. 'Removal from Canada would lead to dire consequences for Mr. Bajwa,' said the judge. 'He would be forced to leave the country he has called home for more than 34 years. He would face the prospect of returning to India, which has changed since he last resided there. A country that now may be as foreign to him as Canada was when Mr. Bajwa immigrated to Canada.' After considering the Charter breach, Patterson sentenced Bajwa to 198 days (just over six months) in jail for the impaired driving conviction, fined him $2,000 and banned him from driving for three years. For driving while prohibited, the judge handed Bajwa another 120 days behind bars (about four months) to be served consecutively, for a total of about 10 months in jail. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Montreal Gazette
19 hours ago
- Montreal Gazette
McGill Ghetto murder trial: ‘I was dealing with all sorts of evil'
By François Pelletier, the man on trial for the murder of 24-year-old Romane Bonnier, ran out of time Friday before he could tell the jury hearing his case about the day of the brutal slaying in the McGill Ghetto more than three years ago. Friday was Pelletier's third day on the witness stand in a first-degree murder trial at the Montreal courthouse, where the 39-year-old is acting as his own lawyer. His testimony has been confusing, full of unfinished thoughts and asides on pop culture references he appears to be fixated on. When he brought up Brave New World, the book by Aldous Huxley, yet again late Friday afternoon, Superior Court Justice François Dadour abruptly called it a day. The judge noted he had asked the jury to stay an extra 45 minutes with the hope Pelletier would reach the end of his testimony in principle before the weekend. Instead, Pelletier is expected to testify on Monday about Oct. 19, 2021, the day he stabbed Bonnier 26 times in front of several stunned witnesses. He will then be cross-examined by either prosecutor Louis Bouthillier or prosecutor Marianna Ferraro. The Crown's theory of the case is earlier in 2021, Pelletier met Bonnier after she placed an ad seeking a roommate to share the apartment she was already living in, and they had a brief relationship after he moved in. It did not end well and, on Oct. 19, 2021, he killed the woman who dreamed of being an actor on Broadway. The jury has heard evidence Bonnier put a quick end to the relationship and, on Sept. 1, 2021, Pelletier moved out of the apartment as had already been planned. On Friday, Pelletier said September was difficult for him as he rented a room to start, but he couldn't take the noise there and ended up moving in with a friend on Oct. 1. 'In late September, I'm still trying to figure (the breakup) out,' he said, adding he was having nightmares in which he killed Bonnier. 'I was dealing with all sorts of evil. 'Towards the end, I was trying to tell (Bonnier) that I was not well.' Pelletier said Bonnier ignored many text messages he sent to her and she asked him to 'stop harassing her' after he met her mother and asked her to tell Bonnier to read his messages. 'She finally did agree to give me a last 30 minutes in her presence. I was like, that sounds like a fair deal, right,' Pelletier told the jury. 'We actually did meet, on Oct. 11, (2021) on McGill (University's) campus. At that point, I was in a rather rough shape, but I showed up. I had been requesting this meeting and I was getting it. At that point, I was deeply immersed into this different interpretation of things. I had been cooking in it for weeks now.' Pelletier said he and Bonnier sat on a bench for the conversation and it was clear 'Romane had moved on.' 'She was not just like a girl to me, she was like my twin flame,' he said. 'I was thinking about her all the time.' Before he described the meeting at the university campus, he told the jury about a scene from the movie Dude, Where's My Car?, a goofball comedy starring actor Ashton Kutcher. Pelletier said he compared his inability to communicate with Bonnier, through text messages, to a scene in the movie where 'these two idiots' are unable to understand each other. 'So there we were. I didn't get any of my answers, no explanation,' Pelletier said. 'I was not expecting Romane to tell me what I wanted to hear or anything specific. I just wanted her to tell me ... I don't know exactly what I wanted her to tell me. 'I chose not to ask her at all (about their relationship). We talked about a bunch of stuff. Essentially, it was just back and forth and then I went away from there.' Pelletier said before they parted ways that day he gave Bonnier a hug. 'It was like hugging a corpse, really,' he said. 'I was in bad shape already and that (hug) was bad.' Pelletier added the last words Bonnier told him before she walked away was: 'Have fun.'
