CALGARY — Loved ones came together Saturday afternoon to pay their final respects for a 25-year-old Calgary woman who was killed when the taxi cab she was riding in was hit by a truck.
The collision happened early Saturday morning, May 2, at Macleod Trail and 12 Avenue S.E.
Both Lavallee and the driver of the cab, 46-year-old Amritpal Kharbanda, were rushed to hospital with critical injuries, but died a short time later.
The 20-year-old driving the truck, Ali Montoya, meanwhile, is facing two charges of impaired driving causing death.
Lavallee’s parents, Dan and Brenda, released a statement on Monday, remembering their youngest daughter as a “bright, complex girl who loved life, loved travel and absolutely and loyally loved her friends and family.”
In her obituary, Lavallee’s parents call her their “miracle baby.”
“Jillian was a true Calgarian and loved the mountains, the Stampede, the Flames and her new career. She was a recent graduate from Trinity Western University…”
The family also thanks “the heroic efforts of the first responders and the emergency medical team in ICU. If it was humanly possible to save our daughter, they would have done it. Their efforts and their compassion exceeded all expectation.”
A tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park in memory of Lavallee.
Lavallee’s parents say they will work to help raise money for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) as well as Kharbanda’s family. In lieu of flowers, they are requesting donations be made through the Jillian Lavallee Legacy Fund.
Many in attendance at the funeral were also at a rally earlier Saturday at the Calgary Courts Centre. Protesters there were calling for harsher penalties for impaired driving offences.
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