A Calgary man admitted to police he was behind the wheel of a car that investigators say struck and killed a woman in a cross walk more than two years ago.
Robert Varley is on trial facing a charge of hit and run causing death.
He had previously told investigators he thought he’d hit a deer.
In a videotaped interview from July 2015, Varley first said someone stole his silver Buick Regal, which was involved in the hit and run that killed 33-year-old Farida Abdurahman. He later changed his story.
The woman was crossing Centre Street at 43 Avenue N. just after 11 p.m. on July 27 when she was struck by the vehicle.
The Regal left the scene and was recovered a short time later by police who then charged Varley with hit and run causing death.
Much of Abdurahman’s family came to Calgary to attend the trial, including her 76-year-old mother, Aynni Abbeker, who flew from Ethiopia for the proceedings.
“I’m speechless. I can’t express myself, what I am feeling,” she told Global News through a family interpreter.
The family said it will be in the courtroom every day seeking justice.
For now, they only have heartbreak.
“Since the accident is happening the family is suffering,” Abdurahman’s cousin Amir Adullahi said.
Varley’s defence lawyer is arguing the statements his client gave to police are inadmissible.
The trial judge is expected to rule on that evidence on Tuesday.