‘You killed us again’
Outrage over sentence in fatal crash
Karen Wensley, aunt of crash victim Sarah Wensley, with son Blair, speaks after sentencing for Cheyann Crystal Peeteetuce.
First came the tears of grief, then the outbursts of anger.
Moments after a Queen’s Bench judge sentenced Cheyann Crystal Peeteetuce to six years in prison for killing Sarah Wensley and James (J.P.) Haughey in a violent car crash, the frustration inside the Saskatoon courtroom was palpable.
“You killed us again,” J.P’s mother, Marilou Haughey, wailed as Peeteetuce was led away.
She was not the only one who felt the justice system failed.
“Where is our justice system? Where is our justice? It’s weak. We have a weak justice system,” Sarah’s father, David Wensley, told reporters outside court.
As Justice Ted Zarzeczny read out the harrowing details of the May 5, 2014, crash that killed the two teens, sobs echoed through the courtroom.
Moments after a Saskatoon police officer activated his siren behind the stolen truck she was driving, Peeteetuce sped away, running a stop sign and ultimately smashing into a car carrying three high school students on their way to track and field practice.
Haughey and Wensley, both 17, were killed instantly. A 16-year-old girl who was sitting in the back seat survived but was seriously injured.
Peeteetuce’s blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was between .14 and .17, about twice the legal limit of .08. The speed of the stolen truck was estimated to be at least 90 kilometres per hour. Haughey’s car was pushed across at least three lanes of traffic before it was wedged against a building at the corner of 22nd Street and Avenue M.
Peeteetuce was the second person sentenced in connection with the crash. Last year, the passenger in the stolen truck, a 17-year-old girl whose identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty to being a party to dangerous driving and evading police causing death. She was given the maximum youth sentence of three years.
Zarzeczny’s sentencing decision highlighted Peeteetuce’s troubled youth and a set of “classic” Gladue factors that contributed to the sentence. Gladue factors relate to a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision by that name; Canadian judges are required to consider the life circumstances of aboriginal offenders during the sentencing process.
Peeteetuce’s mother was addicted to alcohol and was in an abusive relationship, court heard. Her stepfather tried to drown her when she was two years old.
Peeteetuce quit high school in Grade 9 because she was eight months pregnant with her daughter. She gave birth at 16, and later had a son, who died while in his father’s care at the age of 10 months.
Peeteetuce then turned to using crack cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, resorting to prostitution to pay for the drugs and becoming involved with the Indian Posse aboriginal street gang. She and her 17-year-old coaccused were both members of the gang at the time of the crash.
Zarzeczny said given her troubled childhood and her history of abuse and neglect, Peeteetuce is at a “crossroads” in her life.
Outside court, David Wensley said there should be no special treatment for someone who was a known gang member.
“Our kids were killed by two Indian Posse gang members fleeing police in a stolen vehicle. That is a fact. They used that vehicle as a weapon to kill our kids,” Wensley said.
Taking into account the time she has already served on remand, Peeteetuce has four years and four months left on her sentence.