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Accused in Pitt fatal to stand trial

Andelina Kristina Hecimovic faces two counts of dangerous driving causing death
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Debbie Dyer stands with her family outside the Port Coquitlam courthouse last year

A woman charged in connection with a crash that killed a young couple in Pitt Meadows two years ago will be tried in Supreme Court.

Andelina Kristina Hecimovic has been ordered to stand trial on two counts of dangerous driving causing death, following a preliminary inquiry in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court that ended Wednesday.

The purpose of a preliminary inquiry is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial.

Rebecca 'Beckie' Dyer, 19, and her boyfriend, Johnny De Oliveira, 21, were killed around midnight Oct. 19 when a Toyota Paseo, driven by Hecimovic and heading east on Lougheed Highway, skidded sideways over a concrete median near Harris Road.

The Toyota flipped over and slammed into the roof of the Suzuki Swift that Dyer and De Oliveira were traveling in.

Dyer and a friend had just been picked up by her boyfriend from a sold-out Justin Bieber concert in Vancouver.

They were returning home to Pitt Meadows after dropping off Dyer's friend in Maple Ridge.

They were only two blocks away from the apartment they shared with Dyer's mom, Debbie.

Investigators allege Hecimovic, then 23, was driving aggressively when she crashed.

This week's preliminary inquiry was the first time De Oliveira's and Dyer's family and friends came face to face with Hecimovic.

Their supporters filled one side of the court room. Debbie Dyer was dressed in purple, her daughter's favourite colour, and De Oliveira's family wore lime-green, the eye-popping hue of his beloved 4X4.

"We hope to get some sort of justice," said Dyer, who is now part of the activist group Families for Justice.

The group was founded by Markita Kaulius, whose daughter Kassandra was killed by a drunk driver in 2011. They are lobbying for the creation of a vehicular homicide charge; an immediate two-year driving ban for drivers found to be impaired; mandatory minimum sentences and additional mandatory two-year sentences for drunk drivers who flee the scene.

A petition spearheaded by the group has collected almost 12,000 signatures and Dyer is helping to gather more.

She says it's her way of keeping Beckie's memory alive. Beckie's motto was a quote by Mahatma Ghandi: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

"She was always helping people," said Dyer. "So was Johnny. We've just got to keep that image alive of her wanting to change the world."

Hecimovic is set to appear in New Westminster Supreme Court Nov. 8.

Petition

• To find out more about the petition visit the Families for Justice Facebook page.