The sentencing hearing for a B.C. nurse found guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of two Pitt Meadows teens is underway in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.
Andelina Kristina Hecimovic was found guilty for her role in the deaths of 21-year-old Johnny De Oliveira and his 19-year-old girlfriend Rebecca (Beckie) Dyer during a re-trial in January.
RELATED: Hecimovic acquitted on dangerous driving causing death in 2013
Beckie and Johnny died when the roof of their Suzuki Swift was ripped off by an out-of-control car that flipped over the median on Lougheed Highway near Harris Road in Pitt Meadows late at night in October 2010. They were on their way home from a Justin Bieber concert.
Hecimovic was driving her Toyota in the right-turn-only lane when she crossed the intersection of Harris Road and Lougheed Highway on a red light.
Crown has asked for 18 to 20 months jail time and a three year driving prohibition to be served in aggregate to the sentence.
Hecimovic is a first-time offender, has stable employment, is unlikely to re-offend and has shown remorse, said Crown counsel Andrew Blunt.
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During Thursday’s hearing, several impact statements were read by the Beckie and Johnny’s parents, aunts and uncles.
Debbie Dyer described her only daughter, Beckie, as the love of her life and spoke on the indescribable pain she feels without Beckie alive.
In tears, Debbie says "The hole in my heart will never be filled. I didn't just lose my daughter I lost my best friend... now I just exist." pic.twitter.com/dIkTlKSSXX
— Ashley Wadhwani (@ashwadhwani) April 20, 2017
Through tears, Dyer told the courtroom how she’ll never be able to see Beckie receive her diploma in nursing from Douglas College.
Dyer spoke on Beckie and Johnny’s relationship, and how Johnny was saving to buy a home for the two of them. Johnny and and Beckie would have gotten married, she said, “a happy occasion that will never happen for me.”
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Johnny’s mom, Audrey, said the vision of her son’s dead body at Royal Columbian Hospital will be stuck in her head “forever,” and described the pain that still exists of not being able to say goodbye six years later.
She spoke about Johnny’s love for being apart of the Four Wheel Drive Association of B.C., and his hopes of taking over his dad’s sprinkler business.
Aubrey De Oliveira, mom of 21 y/old Johnny says many of his friends are now married with children – events he'll never be a part of. pic.twitter.com/O415itmtUb
— Ashley Wadhwani (@ashwadhwani) April 20, 2017
Maple Ridge is a small community, she said, with people always sharing how much they miss her son when they see her around town.
“It makes me feel good,” she said. “They say, ‘Audrey you’re a very strong person.’”
“It’s sad to know that someone’s life just get’s put in a box,” she said, and the memories are something that no one will be able to take away from her.
“I will be living with this for the rest of my life.”
More to come.
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