Crown argues for 7 years for man who caused fatal crash

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — Meechelle Best remembers seeing the Mountie’s eyes welling as he told her about the collision that killed her daughter, and the way an officer at the scene touched her arm when he told her someone was in custody.

The grieving mother, whose 28-year-old daughter Kellie Verwey was killed in January last year, spoke of the immense feelings of pain and loss she felt during James Lorne Hilton’s sentencing hearing Friday.

“She wasn’t just my daughter, she was my best friend,” Best told court, in a strained voice, as she read a lengthy victim impact statement. “I have not come to terms with this yet. I am working on it, but it’s going to be a very long journey.”

Out on bail and driving a stolen truck with meth in his system, Hilton, 26, lost control on a highway near Portage la Prairie on the morning of Jan. 15, 2025, causing the crash that killed Verwey, who worked as a tourism co-ordinator for the small city.

Hilton pleaded guilty earlier this year in the Court of King’s Bench to driving with a blood-drug concentration that exceeded the legal limit causing death and failing to remain at the scene of the collision. Lawyers argued Friday over what sentence Hilton should receive, and the judge reserved his decision.

Several of Verwey’s family members and loved ones read out statements to court, some holding back tears, as they spoke of the hole left in their lives in the wake of her death.

They described a widely loved, kind, caring and ambitious woman who was in the process of planning her wedding with the “love of her life” and working on expanding their business, a mobile cocktail and coffee bar that catered special events and weddings, and of the life she was not able to live.

Crown prosecutor Brendan Roziere asked Justice Scott Abel to give Hilton a seven-year sentence, less time served, and a 10-year driving ban to take effect after his time behind bars.

Hilton’s lawyer, Brett Gladstone, argued for a sentence in the range of two to four years for the impaired charge, plus an additional nine to 12 months for leaving the scene. He asked for a three-year driving ban.

He argued the court had no evidence to prove Hilton was intoxicated by methamphetamine at the time of the collision. The defence lawyer instead suggested the evidence showed the habitual meth user had residual levels of the illicit drug in his system.

Gladstone also pointed to Hilton’s guilty plea, relative youth and his potential and desire to rehabilitate from his addictions when arguing for a lighter sentence.

Hilton was driving westbound on Highway 26 on the morning of the collision when he veered into the opposing lane and caused another pickup truck to lose control.

Verwey crashed into the second truck and hit the ditch, where police later found her unresponsive and bleeding.

Hilton did not stop or offer assistance and instead hitched a ride with a passing motorist, who dropped him off at a nearby gas station where he phoned for a taxi.

RCMP officers, who were tracking Hilton’s movements, identified the taxi company and managed to speak with the cab driver on the phone, instructing him to bring Hilton to the detachment in Headingley.

Hilton could hear that conversation and was also communicating with police — giving them a fake name when asked for his identity. He then jumped out of the vehicle and ran, but Mounties soon located him.

He told officers he did not know what to do, panicked and ran after seeing how bad the collision was.

A blood sample taken roughly four hours after the crash found a “very high amount of methamphetamine” in his system, Roziere said.

Investigators also recovered a small amount of meth and drug paraphernalia in Hilton’s bag and near the driver’s seat of the stolen vehicle.

Earlier in the day, Hilton’s mother, Kristi Hilton, tearfully spoke to the court and said she had gotten her son addicted to methamphetamine when she was trying to get him off fentanyl.

After the lawyers finished their submissions, Hilton apologized to the judge and loved ones of the victim, telling them he thinks of the collision and his choice to run away every day, calling it the worst decision of his life. He told court he wants to change his life for the better.

Abel is expected to sentence Hilton in early December.

Verwey’s death sparked outrage and calls for bail reform after it was revealed Hilton was wanted on an arrest warrant at the time of the crash, owing to several breaches from other charges.

Her mother spoke to lawmakers in Ottawa last October before the federal government introduced sweeping bail reform legislation.

» Winnipeg Free Press