dailynewsnblog
It was incredibly emotional in a Calgary courtroom on Wednesday, when more than a dozen people read victim impact statements during a sentencing hearing for 31-year-old Duane Nepoose.
He was involved in a deadly Boxing Day crash near Macleod Trail and Southland Drive in 2024.
A young girl, nine-year-old Victoria Desjardin, was killed in the crash and her mother and sister were badly injured.
9-year-old Victoria Desjardin was killed when the stolen van Nepoose was driving blew a red light at Macleod Trail and Southland Drive and crashed into her family’s vehicle.
Provided to Global News
In June of 2025, Nepoose pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, as well as three counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm, robbery and flight from police.
During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, the girl’s mother, Amanda Reitmeier, spoke of feeling helpless and unable to protect her children while she was lying in a hospital bed with one daughter in a coma and the other who had passed away in the crash.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
“I am broken. I am mad. I am sad. I am numb,” she told the court.
Reitmeier also spoke to Nepoose saying “I will never forgive you. This was not an accident. This was a crime.”
Victoria’s grandfather told the court “When I see children playing or walking together, I cry because that could be Victoria.”
During the trial, video from the Calgary Police Service’s HAWCS helicopter showed Nepoose driving a stolen van erratically through south Calgary and Tsuut’ina Nation before speeding up Macleod Trail, eventually colliding with four other vehicles near Southland Drive.
Global News
Following the presentation of impact statements, the next step is supposed to be for the judge to impose a sentence but that was set over for a later date — an upsetting delay for the victim’s family and friends.
“We have been waiting for more than a year for this day and delay after delay after delay with no one taking into account the emotional wellbeing of this family,” said Kelsey Morash, a family friend and end-of-life specialist. “It does seem to favour the accused.”
The Crown is seeking a sentence of between 8.5 and 9.5 years in prison.
The defence has not yet indicated what its recommendation will be, but did indicate to the court that the two sides are far apart in terms of sentencing recommendations.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
