Taylor Ashley Kennedy, the woman accused of killing nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice while driving high, will appear before a judge during a three-day trial beginning October 10, 2023.
Kennedy pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in Saskatoon provincial court.
“When we left the court room and I went to take another step and I just couldn’t take a step, I literally fell to my knees. I didn’t think I was going to react that way,” Rochelle Dubois, Baeleigh’s mother, said through tears.
“It was basically just an immense amount of shock,” she said in response to the defendant pleading not guilty.
Nine-year-old Baeleigh was hit by a pickup truck on Sept. 9, 2021, on 33rd Street West while riding her scooter on a marked crosswalk. She was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Kennedy, who is 28 years old, was charged with impaired operation while exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC causing death. She was the first to be charged with this in the province.
THC, which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive compound found in cannabis that causes the user to feel high.
Kennedy’s trial date will come over two years after the tragedy occurred.
“Everything is out of my control, so I know that I just need to prepare myself for the worst outcome,” said Dubois. “It just feels like it’s going to be a really long time before things are going to be better in my life.
“It’s extremely challenging. It’s just very hard to get through my days.”
Dubois said that the worst part moving forward, is knowing that after pleading not guilty, Kennedy might walk away from this.
“It just makes me angry that there’s just no remorse there, there’s no accountability. Baeleigh’s gone, Baeleigh’s dead. Like, why fight a dead child? I don’t understand.”
Global News reached out to Kennedy’s lawyer for comment but did not hear back by publication.
Baeleigh’s death prompted calls for justice from the girl’s family and their supporters, including rallies outside the Saskatoon Police Service headquarters and Saskatoon City Hall in January.
Dubois said that the city has extended the curbs in the area and is working on installing flashing lights at the crosswalk and painting the poles blue.
A memorial structure is also planned to be built at the scene for Baeleigh.
— With files from Montana Getty.