The next obstacle in the five-year-long ordeal for Debbie Dyer is in November in Ottawa.
Supreme Court of Canada justices will decide then if Andelina Kristina Hecimovic will face a new trial or allow the original acquittal from 2013 to stand.
Hecimovic initially was acquitted of dangerous driving causing death following an Oct. 19, 2010 accident on the Lougheed Highway at Harris Road.
Debbie’s daughter, Beckie Dyer, 19, and Johnny De Oliveria, 21, died after their Suzuki Swift was struck by a Toyota driven by Hecimovic. The Toyota had flipped, landing on top of the Suzuki.
In the initial trial in September 2013, Justice Miriam Gropper ruled that Hecimovic was not trying to beat the red light.
Hecimovic told the court she was thinking about her nursing shift and suddenly smelled something odd as she approached the intersection. When she looked at her scrubs she noticed vomit on her shirt and burst into tears. She was trying to wipe the tears off her face and focus on the road when she realized she had run a red light.
However, last October 2014, the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a new trial, which also allows the accused the right to appeal that to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Debbie Dyer said she might go to Ottawa to attend the Nov. 5 Supreme Court session, or she might watch it via Supreme Court TV channel.
If the original acquittal is upheld, “then we’re done,” said Dyer.
The nine justices could also order a conviction or a new trial, the latter of which would take another year.
Dyer wants a conviction so the case doesn’t set a precedent.
Five years after the death of her daughter, life doesn’t get easier for the Pitt Meadows resident.
“Your life doesn’t get any better. It changes. When you lose your child, you lose all sense of happiness and what’s important in your life.”
She wants to keep the story about the trial and her daughter public so people think about their driving. It only takes a split second for an accident to happen and distracted driving continues to increase.
“It’s getting worse than drinking and driving.”