Impaired driver jailed for five years over 2013 crash that killed girlfriend
Marco Gauthier-Carriere, whose decision nearly four years ago to drive while impaired resulted in the death of his girlfriend, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison and a 10-year driving ban.
Valerie Charbonneau was 20 years old when she got in the passenger seat of the Buick LeSabre that Gauthier-Carriere was driving on a rainy Sunday evening in November 2013. Heading east in a 60 km/h zone on Montreal Road west of Blair Road, Gauthier-Carriere lost control of his mother’s car, jumping the concrete median, crossing two lanes of westbound traffic, striking the sidewalk on the opposite side and digging an eight-metre-long trench in the grass before literally wrapping the car around a light standard, which snapped in two and fell on the car.
Three witnesses estimated the car’s speed to be between 60 and 160 km/h, and Gauthier-Carriere had only one hand on the steering wheel; the other was holding Charbonneau’s hand.
Gauthier-Carriere, 21, at the time, later admitted to having smoked some marijuana and consuming a single beer before driving. At his trial, however, which began last March, forensic toxicologist Rachelle Wallage testified that his blood alcohol concentration of between 75 and 103 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood was much higher than would be expected had he had just one beer.
Gauthier-Carriere was found guilty in April of criminal negligence causing death and impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death. The prosecution had asked for six years of incarceration, while the defence had hoped for two to three.
At Thursday’s sentencing, Ontario Superior Court judge Hugh McLean heard a half dozen victim impact statements from friends and family of Charbonneau’s, each at times sad, angry and wistful. Charbonneau’s mother, Sylvie Charbonneau, described the night officers knocked on her door to tell her of Valerie’s death, and the emotions she felt.
“It just seemed like a terrible nightmare and I couldn’t wake up,” she recalled. “Our lives became blurry and unbelievably out of control. The ache in our stomach was unbearable. The anger was undoubtedly nothing we ever thought of feeling. We were walking zombies for months.
“To this day,” she continued, “we still wait for her phone calls. We long to hear her voice, her laughter, her ‘I love you’ and her hugs.
“How can you recover from that? Well, we still haven’t.”
Sylvie’s statement also addressed Gauthier-Carriere. “In order to start some healing, there has to be remorse, a feeling of sadness. In order to have a lesson learned there has to be acknowledgment, not denial, no excuses, lies and blaming others. We have not heard any of this, only the opposite. There were no attempts for apologies. We hope that this will teach a life lesson and help the offender find it in his heart to lead a better life.” bdeachman@postmedia.com
To this day, we still wait for her phone calls. We long to hear her voice, her laughter, her ‘I love you’ and her hugs. How can you recover from that?