'Destroyed and broken': Jennifer Brewer's family reflects on her death in drunk-driving crash
When Ashley Brewer learned her younger sister died in a drunk-driving crash, the world stopped moving.
Jennifer Dawn Brewer was Ashley's best friend.
"She was 24 with a full life left to live," Ashley said, reading a statement at the sentencing hearing for the man who was driving when her sister died.
Marc-André Doucet. pleaded guilty in January to impaired driving causing death. He had crashed his car on St. Anne's Point Drive in Fredericton on June 10, 2016. Brewer was his only passenger.
Comparing the sisters' shared history to a book, Ashley said, "Any connection I had to my childhood, the first half of the book, has now been ripped off."
On Wednesday, the Crown asked for a sentence of four years for Doucet, who has an earlier drunk-driving conviction. The defence asked for two years minus the time the Fredericton-area man spent in custody after his arrest.
But the sentencing was adjourned to April 12 to give Judge Terrence J. Morrison of the Court of Queen's Bench time to consider new documents and the sentence.
Passenger in car
A Fredericton police report read in court said an officer responded to the single-vehicle crash at St. Anne's Pointe around 3:30 a.m.
The car was empty, and Doucet was walking toward the officer, slurring his words, appearing confused and smelling of liquor. He told the officer he went into the river to try to find his girlfriend.
He also claimed he was a passenger in the car. The officer concluded otherwise and got a blood sample from Doucet. His blood-alcohol reading of between 174 and 226 mg was more than twice the legal limit.
Doucet later admitted to being the driver.
Pitchers of beer
Brewer and Doucet were drinking that night at Dooly's Billiard Room on Prospect Street. Doucet said he drank pitchers of beer and vodka.
Shortly before 3 a.m., the couple and two others drove to a gas station on Regent Street, with Doucet at the wheel.
Video footage shows all four going into the gas bar, the Crown told court. When Doucet came out, he got into the driver's seat as Brewer tried to get in on the passenger side.
Every time she tried to open the door, he moved the car forward. At one point, he abruptly sped away, and Brewer fell and rolled on the ground. The footage shows her hitting the car after Doucet backed it up and almost hit her.
Eventually, all four were in the car, which sped down Regent Street. The other two passengers were dropped off before the crash.
The crash
Doucet told police that he was going about 80 kilometres an hour when he crossed the intersection at King and Regent streets and that he tried to slow down when he came to the curve near the lighthouse.
An accident reconstruction report said the car struck a knoll, became airborne and landed on its right side near the St. John River.
Neither Brewer nor Doucet wore a seatbelt. Police concluded Brewer was ejected during the crash and landed in the river. Divers were brought in to help try to find her that night, but police only found her purse.
Her body was discovered on the shoreline two days later. Autopsy results said she died from skull fracture.
'Destroyed and broken'
Morrison, the judge, said he'd received 13 victim impact statements but only three were read. Family and friends filled half the courtroom at the hearing, and a smaller group, including Doucet's father, gathered on the other side.
Ashley Brewer said she was supposed to plan another sister's wedding when she learned of Jennifer's death. Instead, she found herself planning "my baby sister's funeral."
Brewer's aunt said her niece's death has "destroyed us and broke us."
For most of the morning, Doucet sat still and stared straight ahead, but he stood up to read a letter to Brewer's family.
Hands tight on a railing and holding back tears, he said he wanted to give his "deepest and most sincere apologies" for the pain he had caused. There is no day when he does not think about Brewer.
"Nothing I can say will bring her back, or replace the pain or loss your family experiences."
Plea arrangement
The judge asked the Crown why it proposed a four-year sentence for someone who already had an impaired driving offence. The Crown said Doucet, who originally had chosen to be tried on the charge, agreed to a guilty plea based on a four-year sentence. There were also some issues with the evidence.
Outside Ashley Brewer was asked how she felt about the four-year term the Crown proposed.
"As a family we are suffering a life sentence, so it's hard to know that we'll have a longer sentence than the offender," she said. "He may not even get what they suggested."
She also said Doucet's letter didn't mean that much to her. He knew the family for over a year before the crash but this was the first time since last June that they heard from him.
"So to me, that doesn't feel like genuine remorse," she said.
The hearing will resume April 12 at 10 a.m.
