30-month sentence for hit-and-run driver who killed young Edmonton mom
Kenneth Didechko, convicted in the 2012 hit-and-run death of a young Edmonton mother and then lying to police about it, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison.
"I have no difficulty concluding his alcohol consumption contributed to his decision to leave the scene," Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain told a packed courtroom. "It was risk management, pure and simple."
Germain also said that the day after his car fatally struck Faith Jackson, 18, Didechko was "coolly and dispassionately planning his next crime, obstructing justice."
Germain sentenced Didechko to two years behind bars for the hit-and-run collision that killed pedestrian Faith Jackson.
He also sentenced Didechko to a six-month sentence for obstructing justice, to be served after the two-year term.
Because his combined sentence is 30 months, Didechko will serve his time in a federal prison.
As well, he was handed a four-year driving ban.
When the sentence was delivered, Didechko showed no reaction.
After the judge left the courtroom, he walked over to his family in the front row and removed his tie and watch.
He leaned down, hugged his mother and kissed her on the cheek before sheriffs led him away.
Earlier Tuesday, a Crown prosecutor had argued that Didechko should spend three to four years in prison.
His crime was "morally repugnant," prosecutor James Stewart told the sentencing hearing.
Didechko's lawyer Chady Moustarah had asked for house arrest. He said Didechko lost a child at birth and understands his loss. Didechko is the father of four children who all suffer from medical conditions and he must support them, Moustarah said.
Didechko was found guilty earlier this year of hitting Jackson in north Edmonton in October 2012. It took police nine months to charge him.
Court heard that Didechko lied to police and said he was at home watching the Food Network when Jackson died.
"There's nobody more remorseless than Ken Didechko. There's no remorse," Stewart said in court.
"He was so unaffected by killing [Jackson] with his car that he committed an impaired-related offence 10 months later."
During the trial, court heard that Didechko was drinking at his favourite bar in the hours before Jackson was killed, but the Crown could not prove he was over the legal limit since he fled the scene of the crash. Hours after the collision, police found the 2012 Dodge Charger that Didechko had been driving in a ditch.
Jackson, 18, was a student and had a one-year-old son.
"There's a big black hole in me that can't ever be filled," Jackson's mother Rebecca Benjamin said in a victim impact statement. "My days are filled with regret, sadness and hate."
Outside court afterwards, Benjamin said she had prayed for Didechko to receive a longer sentence.
"He only got 2 1/2 years and he killed my daughter," she said. "I'll never ever see her again, and he only got that much time. I have a life sentence that I'm serving without my daughter. I'll never be able to see her again and neither will her baby. I'm shocked. I was praying for more."
Benjamin said her daughter "was only 18 for three months" and had her whole life ahead of her.
"The last thing [she said] before she walked out the door was, 'I love you, Mommy. I'll be right back." "
