Judge jails Red Deer man behind wheel in crash that killed teens

RED DEER A Red Deer man convicted in a Canada Day crash three years ago that killed two teenagers has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Dylan James Beauclair, 21, was also handed a 10-year driving ban and ordered to provide a DNA sample when he was sentenced Tuesday in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench.

He was found guilty earlier this year of two charges of dangerous driving causing death and two of dangerous driving causing bodily harm for the July 1, 2016 accident.

The court heard Beauclair was driving between 121 and 145 km/h when his vehicle went out of control on a gravel road, hit a ditch and collided with a utility pole.

The crash killed Ashleigh Smith, a 16-year-old resident of Springbrook, and John Dolliver, an 18-year-old man from Penhold.

Beauclair was given three years each for the dangerous driving causing death charges and one year each for the lesser counts, all to be served concurrently.

Justice Bill Hopkins said the gravity of the crash is profound.

“The offender engaged in a deliberate driving pattern,” said Hopkins. “He also endangered the lives of others that were using the roadway at the same time. The impact on the victims’ families and community is immense.”

Beauclair’s February trial heard that the accused, his girlfriend Shaylene Taberner, along with Smith, Dolliver and a third friend, Lexie Martin, had planned to see the Canada Day fireworks in Sylvan Lake before heading to a party in the Joffre area.

Rain changed their plans and they went directly to the party with Taberner the designated driver, but two angry calls from her father led the group to change their plans and have Beauclair drive to get his girlfriend home faster.

Const. Stephen Molnar, an RCMP forensic collision analyst, testified that Beauclair’s vehicle sped south on Highway 808 east of Red Deer toward Highway 595, with warning signs and rumble strips notifying drivers of an upcoming intersection.

The officer said the vehicle went through the stop sign and narrowly missed a head-on collision just before Beauclair lost control.

The force of the crash ejected Smith, Dolliver and Martin from the back seat, fatally injuring the first two and injuring Martin and Taberner.