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This article was published 26/5/2015 (1944 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba judge says she needs more time to consider the fate of a young Winnipeg motorist who killed two women and injured three others after blowing through a red light while texting and speeding with alcohol in her system.

The accused, who was just 17 at the time of the October 2010 crash, has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Now 21, she appeared in court in early April for two days of sentencing submissions. Queen’s Bench Justice Karen Simonsen reserved her verdict at the time, but called lawyers back to court Tuesday to make arguments. Simonsen had a series of follow-up questions pertaining to what type of treatment might be available in an adult facility as opposed to a youth jail.

The Crown is seeking a five-year adult sentence for the woman, while she is asking to remain under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and be given just three years of probation.

Simonsen said Tuesday she likely won’t have her decision ready until mid-July. The woman remains free on bail.

Senhit Mehari, 19, and Amutha Subramaniam, 17, suffered fatal injuries as they drove home from a Halloween party. Both were graduates of Dakota Collegiate and were studying business administration at the University of Manitoba. The women, along with three friends, were heading south in a Pontiac Sunfire on St. Mary's Road when a westbound Chevrolet Cavalier ran a red light and slammed into the driver's side of the Sunfire at the intersection of Bishop Grandin Boulevard.

The teen driver was on probation, which meant she wasn't allowed to have any alcohol in her system when behind the wheel. She had been drinking at a house party that night and was going about 20 km/h over the speed limit at the moment of impact.

An examination of the accused's phone shows she was texting on her cellphone with friends at the time of the crash. She also had alcohol in her system -- in the range of between .07 and .12 based on an extrapolation. The Crown originally laid impaired-driving charges but stayed those on the grounds there was doubt as to whether she would have been over the legal limit of .08 at the time of impact, because blood wasn't taken until some time after the crash.

Court heard how the deadly driver admits she had driven after drinking alcohol on "three or four" prior occasions and routinely texted while driving despite admittedly having some "close calls." On the night of the tragedy, friends tried to stop her from getting into her car after consuming a large quantity of rum at a house party.

As well, court heard about a series of text messages the girl had exchanged with friends – both on the night of the incident and several days earlier – where they pleaded with her not to drink and drive.

Following the crash, the girl admitted to police she knew it was a poor choice but did it anyways.

"People had to die for me to know it was wrong," she said.

The Crown is relying on these types of comments as part of their argument that the YCJA penalties just aren’t sufficient. They said the girl has a "high sense of entitlement" as proven by the fact she quizzed police immediately after the crash about how long she may lose the ability to drive.

"My driver's licence is very precious to me," she explained to an officer. Later that night, when informed she would be released on bail, the driver bristled when told her conditions would include abstaining from alcohol.

"Does that mean I can't drink on my 18th birthday?" she asked.

The girl did, in fact, hold her 18th birthday at a bar. It’s not clear if she consumed alcohol. But an ex-boyfriend told police she regularly drank with him after the incident. As well, she posted numerous "selfies" on Facebook which showed her partying with friends, often in the presence of alcohol, in the months after the incident.

Defence lawyer Todd Bourcier said his client has "grown as a person" in the four-and-a-half years since the incident and insisted her remorse is legitimate.

www.mikeoncrime.com