A young Calgary man has admitted to killing a city cabbie and his passenger in a crash last spring.
Ali Montoya, 21, has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal negligence causing death and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Montoya admitted driving into a cab in May 2015 killing the driver Amritpal Kharbanda and his 25-year-old passenger, Jillian Lavallee.
He also admitted to injuring the driver of a third vehicle.
Families of the two victim’s left the court room as CCTV video of the fatal crash was played.
Montoya broke down sobbing as he watched the recording. He admitted to speeding and running multiple red lights before hitting the taxi. He had a blood alcohol of .11, over the legal limit of .08.
Moments after the collision Montoya told a police officer at the scene, “I’m so going to jail.”
Lavallee’s family spoke to the media outside of court Friday. They said they are relieved the case didn’t end up going to trial.
“We’re not vengeful, we’re not filled with hate for anyone in particular, but we want to be very clear what the impact it has had on our lives and it’s significant,” Dan Lavallee said.
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“Mr. Montoya made one bad choice, and it’s impacting his life,” Jillian’s mother Brenda Lavallee said. “He is very remorseful but his life is never going to be the same again.”
The family is also trying to raise awareness about the consequences of drinking and driving and the impact it has on loved ones.
“Until you’re actually impacted by something like this, you don’t think about it,” Brenda said. “We don’t want other young men to experience what he is experiencing. We don’t want other families to experience what we’ve experienced and we just want the awareness to be there.”
Defence lawyer Alain Hepner says he anticipates a severe sentence, especially given alcohol was a factor.
Montoya has been ordered to undergo psychological, psychiatric, and risk assessments, but will remain out on bail pending the sentencing hearing. He has been out on bail under 24-hour house arrest since on June 3, 2015.
“He’s going to jail for a long time. A risk assessment will help him when he’s in custody with respect to parole; the courses he’ll take; the programs he’ll take; the view the board will have of him,” said Hepner.
A date for sentencing will be set June 3, 2016.
The maximum penalty for criminal negligence causing death is life in prison.
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