Quebec man pleads guilty to striking woman in wheelchair hit and run

A Quebec man has pleaded guilty to several charges including drunk driving after his car struck a woman who was out in her wheelchair taking her dog for a walk.

Roger Walsh, 56, appeared in a Valleyfield courtroom Thursday to plead guilty to charges of hit and run and impaired driving. The accident occurred in October in the quiet, rural community of Les Cèdres, west of Montreal. 

Anee Khudaverdian was celebrating her 47th birthday. She headed out in her wheelchair just before 6 p.m. to take her dog Diego for a walk along Chemin du Fleuve. The two were on the side of the road when a car struck them from behind, killing Khudaverdian. The dog survived.

Police said the car fled the scene and went off the road a few minutes later. Walsh was arrested at the scene. He did not have a valid driver's licence.

Lawyer Jacques Vinet hoped the guilty plea would avoid a long trial for his client. Vinet said Walsh was aware of the seriousness of his actions. Walsh had previous convictions for impaired driving.

'My sister isn't coming back. I want to see this man behind bars for life."' — Clara Khudaverdian

"He told me that he was feeling very bad, and he would not like the same thing to occur to his own family. I can tell you that he has lots of remorse," Vinet told CBC News outside the courtroom.

The victim's family said the quick guilty plea gave them some comfort. Clara Khudaverdian, Anee's sister, said she will focus now on the sentencing hearing in the new year.

"He killed my sister. My sister's never going to come back," she said. "I want to see this man behind bars for life."

Woman led full life despite disability

Khudaverdian was born in Lebanon and came to Montreal at the age of two to be treated for polio at the Shriners Hospital.

She was never able to use her legs. However, her family said she lived a full life, even giving birth to her own child at the age of 40.

"She was a happy person," said her sister Clara Khudaverdian. "She was living life probably better than most of us who walk live life. Nothing would stop her."

The little girl is now seven years old. The victim's mother, Sara Khudaverdian, said her granddaughter asks for her mother every night.

"Whenever her father is doing something, she says that is not the way my mommy does it. Now she is asking for her mommy's voice," she said. "She is passing a tough time. We hope she is going to get better."

Walsh will return to court on Jan. 13 for sentencing.