Watch above: Jeremiah Jobb pleaded guilty in a Prince Albert courtroom to several charges, including impaired driving causing death. Jobb was charged in 2013 after a crash that killed two women including a pregnant teenager. The victim’s unborn child survived but was born three months premature. Amber Rockliffe reports.
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A Saskatchewan man admitted Friday to his role in a crash that killed a young woman and a pregnant teenager. Jeremiah Jobb pleaded guilty in a Prince Albert courtroom to several charges, including impaired driving causing death.
Taylor Litwin, 21, and 17-year-old Brandi Lapine were on their way to a 7-Eleven to fill a craving for a Slurpee when the crash happened in July 2013. Lapine’s unborn child survived, but was three months premature.
READ MORE: Prince Albert crash victim gives birth, dies
Justice R.D. Maher ordered a Gladue report for Jobb, as he is of aboriginal descent. The report considers an aboriginal offender’s history and upbringing, and explores reasonable alternatives to incarceration.
“We just don’t think in this case Gladue had any bearing whatsoever,” explained Jobb’s defense counsel Ron Piche.
“Our submissions would have shown that Mr. Jobb had a normal upbringing and he was in a home that was very supportive,” Piche explained.
Litwin’s aunt Marlene Regnier said she feels the report is unjust.
“I’m mad. Just frustrated. I wanted it to be done with, because it’s gone on for too long,” she explained.
“It’s torn us apart. It’s very hard on my sister and my niece.”
Lapine and Litwin were buried side by side under a tree at a local cemetery.
The tiny girl was named Aurora Sky. She spent five months in Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital, where doctors eventually placed a shunt in her head to drain fluid off her tiny brain.
She had suffered a head injury during the car wreck while she was still inside her mother’s womb.
READ MORE: A day of life and death in Sask.
Justice R.D. Maher ordered a Gladue report for Jobb, as he is of aboriginal descent. The report considers an aboriginal offender’s history and upbringing, and explores reasonable alternatives to incarceration.
“We just don’t think in this case Gladue had any bearing whatsoever,” explained Jobb’s defense counsel Ron Piche.
“Our submissions would have shown that Mr. Jobb had a normal upbringing and he was in a home that was very supportive,” Piche explained.
Litwin’s aunt Marlene Regnier said she feels the report is unjust.
“I’m mad. Just frustrated. I wanted it to be done with, because it’s gone on for too long,” she explained.
“It’s torn us apart. It’s very hard on my sister and my niece.”
Lapine and Litwin were buried side by side under a tree at a local cemetery.
Last July, as the girl’s first birthday approached, her grandmother recalled how she tearfully said goodbye to her dead daughter and, despite overwhelming grief, headed up three floors in the hospital to meet her newborn grandchild.
Josie Ledoux said every time she looks at Aurora Sky, she sees the same nose, lips and eyes of her daughter. That, she said, brings her joy.
Doctors have said the child is likely to have some form of disability for the rest of her life.
Global’s Amber Rockliffe contribute to this story
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