A Saskatoon woman convicted of drunk driving after causing a crash that killed a family of four has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Catherine McKay, 49, pleaded guilty last month to four counts of impaired driving causing death in connection to the January, 2016, crash that killed Jordan and Chanda Van de Vorst, and their two young children, Kamryn, 5, and Miguire, 2.
McKay admitted drinking at least seven drinks before attempting to drive home on the night of the crash.
Staff at the first bar had offered her a ride when she tried to leave. Instead, she drove herself to another bar and sang karaoke before being cut off from any more alcohol.
Crown prosecutor Michael Pilon told court McKay was driving 120 kilometres an hour when she ran her SUV through a stop sign and struck the Van de Vorsts’ car driving along the four-lane Highway 11.
Her blood-alcohol level at the time was three times the legal limit.
Jordan and Chanda died at the scene. Five-year-old Kamryn and two-year-old Miguire died in hospital a few hours later.
McKay will serve nine years and two months in prison, after receiving credit for time served. She has also been banned from driving for 12 years after her release and from possessing weapons for 10 years.
Pilon said that although both the Crown and the defence agreed to the sentence, it was a sad day for all.
“Nobody came into this happy or is leaving happy. But at the end of the day, it’s …hopefully a step in the right direction for our province,” he said.
Past sentences for similar convictions — excluding a recent 10-year sentence handed out in Ontario against Marco Muzzo — have usually ranged around seven years across the country, according to Pilon.
“The range in the country, up until this year, has been disgusting. I don’t think there’s a better word to describe it. Ten years is a big jump over the seven, seven-and-a-half that have been previously done.”
Family members and friends of the Van de Vorsts sobbed during Wednesday’s hearing in which more than a dozen victim impact statements were read.
“In a big way, I’ve lost my joy of life,” Jordan’s father, Lou Van de Vorst, told the court. He will no longer be able to hug his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, or tell them he loves them, he said.
Jordan’s mother Linda Van de Vorst said she felt like she had been given four life sentences “with no chance of parole ever.”
Kamryn and Miguire’s aunt, who was with Miguire when he died, described the event as heart-wrenching. The first police officer on scene said no other emergency call has compared to the crash.
The officer, who has three sons of his own, told court he remembers Miguire gripping his pinky finger, and after the boy was taken away, he went to his patrol car to cry.
McKay, who has five children and four grandchildren, was visibly upset during the victim impact statements, wincing and crying into a tissue. Her lawyer said McKay had taken full responsibility for the crash since day one.
Four of McKay’s children, her boyfriend, and members of the Elizabeth Fry Society were in court while her lawyer read several letters calling McKay a devoted mother and a kind, caring person.
With a report from CTV Saskatoon's Angelina Irinici
