VIDEO: Court shown dash-cam footage leading up to fatal crash

A judge heard sentencing arguments in the case of a woman who was drunk behind the wheel of a stolen truck when she killed two teenagers while fleeing police.

Cheyann Peeteetuce pleaded guilty to seven offences in December 2014, stemming from a May 2014 collision on 22nd Street that left 17-year-olds J.P. Haughey and Sarah Wensley dead, and seriously injured then 16-year-old Kara Mitsuing,

In court on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Paul Goldstein presented a video taken by a Saskatoon police officer’s dash cam just before the incident.

The video showed the officer tailing the 1997 Chevy half-ton driven by Peeteetuce, which had been reported stolen.

On the tape, the officer followed Peeteetuce up 20th Street. When she turned northbound onto Avenue M, the officer turned on his lights and sirens to attempt to pull her over just before 21st Street.

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The video showed Peeteetuce immediately speeding off in a cloud of dust. Almost instantly, the officer could be heard calling for paramedics and traffic control as he told  his dispatcher the truck had just collided with two vehicles on 22nd Street.

The video ended with the officer coming to the scene of the mangled vehicles after they had slammed into a building and showed him rushing out to attend to the injured.

After playing the video, Goldstein told court collision analysts found Peeteetuce ran the stop sign at Avenue M and 22nd Street at a speed of no less than 90 kilometres per hour and made no attempt to brake. 

Blood work done on Peeteetuce after the crash found her blood alcohol level to be between .131 and .171, close to double the legal limit.

After Goldstein explained the details of the incident to the judge, there was an opportunity for victim impact statements.

The first to speak was J.P. Haughey’s mother. Through heavy sobs, she explained that J.P. (who was also called James) was her only child.

“James is my one and only child. He’s my life, my world,” she said.

Still fighting back tears she tried to explain the devastation she’s felt since the collision.

“Now life has no meaning to me anymore, I don’t have direction. I’m lost. I don’t even know how to live without him,” she said, adding that she has contemplated suicide in the wake of the tragedy.

From there, she wheeled on Peeteetuce. Holding the urn with her son’s ashes in her hands, she explained that she couldn’t bring herself to bury him.  Still holding the urn, she told Peeteetuce, “You have your life ahead of you…all I have is this.”

Court then heard from Wensley’s parents, ad well as0 Kara Mitsuing and her mother.

All described the trauma they’ve endured since losing their loved ones, and expressed their anger at Peeteetuce’s actions.

Mitsuing told court she hasn’t been the same person since the accident. Her mother pointed to lingering effects from the injuries she suffered in the crash, saying they make it difficult for her daughter to move on.

Wensley’s father talked about the small heartbreaks of having to cancel his daughter’s cell phone and insurance and having to plan her funeral.  He expressed sympathy for the first responders who attended the scene of the crash, saying they too were victimized by Peeteetuce’s actions.

Finally, Wensley’s father expressed his dismay at the justice system. Peeteetuce had three prior convictions for stealing vehicles. He said it was clear the system failed to rehabilitate her.

After the victim impact statements, Goldstein moved to arguing matters of law. He cited several similar cases in an effort to give the judge a sense of what an appropriate sentence might be.

Goldstein concluded by asking for a global sentence of 12 years covering all seven counts.

Karen Wensley, Sarah’s aunt, was shocked to hear Peeteetuce’s blood alcohol limit and said the dash cam video was hard to watch.

“If she gets at least 24 years altogether for what she has done, that would suffice but I wish she would get life. The indecisions she has made in her past, she shouldn’t be able to spend any time with her kids either because we can’t spend time with our family,” she told reporters. 

Defence arguments

A defence lawyer explained that Peeteetuce was born to an alcoholic mother who neglected her children and left Peeteetuce to live with relatives. At one point, her stepmother tried to drown her.

Peeteetuce’s grandfather was a residential school student and her mother was a day student.

The defence said Peeteetuce first had a child at the age of 16 and then a son in 2013. Peeteetuce learned through Facebook that her son had suffered an opiate overdose in the care of his father and she it had to make a decision to take him off life support.

Given the chance to speak in court, Peeteetuce apologized for her actions.

“I want to say I’m sorry,” she said, barely intelligible through sobs. The defence lawyer said Peeteetuce wrote letters of apology to the families, and said she can understand if they may not want to read them.

 “I know how it feels to lose someone. I’m sorry,” said Peeteetuce.

Peeteetuce’s lawyer said she has also written to the head of the Indian Posse saying she wants out of the gang, which she turned to for support and belonging.

The defence pointed out that Peeteetuce did everythong possible to plead guilty and move to sentencing quickly, without looking for any kind of negotiation or plea bargain.

The defence asked for a six-year global sentence.

Peeteetuce was one of two people charged after the fatal crash. Her 18-year-old passenger was given the maximum three-year sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act for her role in the deadly joyride. She was 17 at the time of the crash and cannot be identified due to her age.

The 18-year-old’s sentence includes one year of youth jail, open custody and community supervision followed by another year of probation. She was given a one-year credit for time spent in custody.

The judge will impose a sentence on Peeteetuce on June 12.

Warning: This video contains images that may upset some viewers

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