'I understand why you hate me,' Winnipeg drunk driver tells families of crash victims
Crown wants driver, who was 17 at the time, sentenced as an adult
A young driver who killed two teenagers and injured several other people in a Halloween crash in 2010 will have to wait to learn if she will be sentenced as an adult.
A Winnipeg court has reserved its decision on sentencing the 21-year-old woman, who was 17 years old at the time of the collision on Oct. 31, 2010. She cannot be named because she was a minor back then.
At a sentencing hearing on Thursday, Crown prosecutors called for a five-year prison sentence for the woman.
Her lawyer sought a youth sentence, telling court that the woman has learned her lesson and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Near the end of the hearing, the accused stood up and apologized several times to the victims' families.
"I understand why you hate me, why you want the worst for me and why you think I am a monster," she told the court.
Drunk, speeding and texting
Court heard at that time, that the woman was drunk, speeding on cruise control and texting when she blew through a solid red light without braking.
Her Cavalier slammed into a Pontiac Sunfire at the intersection of St. Mary's Road and Bishop Grandin Boulevard at 2:55 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2010.
The woman had a graduated licence and was not supposed to consume any alcohol but her blood alcohol reading at the time was between 0.07 and 0.12. The legal limit in Manitoba is 0.05.
The Sunfire was carrying five people heading home from a Halloween party. Two of the passengers — Senhit Mehari, 19, and Amutha Subramaniam, 17 — died from their injuries.
An 18-year-old woman was hospitalized in critical condition, another person was seriously injured, and a fifth person was treated in hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Lawyers present arguments
On Thursday, Crown prosecutors said the woman has shown little remorse, pointing to Facebook photos of her posing for selfies and having a good time with friends after the collision happened.
Court also heard that friends of the then-teenager asked her by text message three times if she was going to drink and drive on the night of the crash.
"Are you going to be drinking and driving at Jenna's?" read a text from one friend.
She responded with, "I don't know, probably. Why?"
The woman's lawyer told court that she has been very remorseful since the crash and has taken part in counselling.
Court heard that the woman was a product of a home where alcohol was a problem and she was poorly supervised by her parents. Her mother set a bad example by drinking and driving herself, according to the defence.
After the woman addressed the court at Thursday's hearing, her mother stood up to speak as well, but the victims' families stood up and walked out of the courtroom.