The suspect allegedly responsible for a 2017 hit-and-run collision outside of Hope, B.C., that claimed the life of a young mother of four has now been charged.
Anthony Creed Cortez, who turns 40 this year, is charged with six offences including dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop at an accident causing bodily harm, auto theft, and possessing a firearm without a licence or registration.
WATCH: (Aired Sept. 22, 2017) Suspect in deadly hit-and-run crash near Hope arrested
35-year-old Danielle Charlton was killed on Sept. 11, 2017, in the horrific crash on Highway 3.
Charlton, who was also known as “Deedee” to friends and family, was a passenger in an SUV that collided with a maintenance truck about 10 kilometres east of Hope.
Cortez, who was allegedly behind the wheel of the SUV, is accused of fleeing the scene in a truck stolen from a Good Samaritan who had stopped to help.
After a nine-day manhunt, Cortez, who was Charlton’s on again-off again boyfriend, was arrested in B.C.’s Rogers Pass area.
Mounties say they spotted Cortez driving a stolen motorcycle on the Trans-Canada Highway at around 9:45 a.m. on Sept. 20.
The motorcycle was found abandoned in Albert Canyon, and Cortez was taken into custody as he allegedly tried to break into a resort cabin.
More than a year later, charges related to the crash were formally sworn against Cortez on Oct. 15, 2018. Two days later, he was released on $2,000 bail.
Cortez and Charlton were also linked to a jewelry store heist in Nelson on the same day as the deadly collision.
On Aug. 27, 2018, Cortez was sentenced to one day in jail and 12 months probation for the break-and-enter at Ted Allen’s Jewellery.
Cortez is set to appear in Chilliwack court for a focus hearing on the fatal hit-and-run crash charges on Sept. 23. A preliminary inquiry is scheduled to begin on Dec. 12.
“I’m quite happy that he’s finally been charged,” Charlton’s son Charles said Saturday.
Charlie Charlton, Deedee’s estranged husband, said he’s hopeful justice will prevail.
“And then we start to heal I think,” he said. “We all make mistakes, what you do to fix that is what defines a person.”
—With files from Tanya Beja, Paula Baker and Jesse Ferreras
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