An Edmonton man admitted in court Wednesday he was almost three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit when he fatally hit a 73-year-old pedestrian in a marked crosswalk and fled the scene.

Erick Edgardo Garcia, 38, pleaded guilty to operating a vehicle while over .08 causing death in connection with a June 20, 2016, collision that took the life of Ajaib Singh Grewal.

Crown prosecutor Mark Van Manen told court that police responded to a reported 4 p.m. hit-and-run involving a vehicle striking a pedestrian at the intersection of 48 Street and Mill Woods Road South.

An officer found a large group of people gathered around the victim, who was lying on the ground suffering from "extremely serious and grave" injuries and who later died as a result, said Van Manen.

Court heard a witness told the officer he had the licence plate number of the Jeep involved and gave him directions as to which way the vehicle had gone.

The officer quickly found the Jeep nearby, pulled over by a curb near the intersection of 37 Street and 12A Avenue, and saw Garcia sitting in the driver's seat, said Van Manen.

When the officer approached to arrest Garcia, he noted an "overpowering" smell of alcohol through the driver's window and spotted an empty mickey under the seat.

Van Manen also said Garcia was "teetering back and forth" and "barely able to stand on his feet." After the officer had him get out of the vehicle, he was slurring his speech and acting confused and a "strong" smell of alcohol was "radiating" from his body.

Court heard breath samples were later taken from Garcia and the lowest blood-alcohol reading was .21, which is nearly three times the legal limit of .08.

When asked by the judge if he admitted the facts read out, Garcia said yes, but noted he "doesn't remember" the incident.

A pre-sentence report was ordered on Garcia, who has been in custody since the deadly collision and has not sought bail. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for Dec. 19.

At the time of the incident, Grewal's family said the senior was a "very gentle" man who was an avid volunteer and well-known community member who would go daily to his church to help out.

"This was his life routine," said Grewal's nephew, Harban Deol, adding that his uncle, a farmer who immigrated to Edmonton from the Punjab region to be with his children, had recently helped sort clothes and other donations as his church ramped up their Fort McMurray fire relief efforts.

Sukhdeep Singh, head priest of the Gurudwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha on Mill Woods Road, said Grewal was a "very nice person" who did many hours of volunteer services at the temple.

Grewal left behind his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Garcia is also charged with dangerous driving causing death and criminal hit-and-run causing death, but it is expected those charges will be withdrawn at the sentencing.

toblais@postmedia.com

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