‘How could this happen?’ Dozens more share impact of 2022 fatal drunk-driving crash

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This article was published 10/11/2023 (761 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One after the other — over 20 in all — they walked up to a microphone and loosed their pain, aching loss, and anger, along with one overriding message: this didn’t have to happen.

Jordyn Reimer, a designated driver, was doing the right thing, taking friends home after a night out, they said, when Tyler Goodman made the conscious decision to drive drunk, taking Reimer’s life in a two-vehicle, high-speed collision.

Goodman, 30, sat sombrely in the prisoner’s box of a Winnipeg courtroom Friday as nearly 80 of Reimer’s friends and family members, all wearing purple “Justice for Jordyn” t-shirts, filled the gallery directly behind him.

“How could this happen?” family friend Laurie Sinclair said angrily, turning to Goodman as she read her victim impact statement in court. “Why? Why? A young lady doing the right thing, and this is the outcome?”

Shannon Anderson, a co-worker and friend of Jordyn’s mother, said she taught her own children never to drink and drive.

“But this won’t protect them from the immoral, selfish, evil choices of others,” she said.

Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for Goodman, who previously pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and failing to remain at the scene of the May 1, 2022, crash that killed Jordyn Reimer, 24.

His mother, Laurie Goodman, 58, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice, with the prosecution and defence jointly recommending she serve a six-month conditional sentence in the community.

Tyler Goodman had been drinking with friends at a Transcona bar and was behind the wheel of his mother’s pickup truck when it blew through a stop sign at 108 km/h in a 50-km/h zone.

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The vehicle slammed into Jordyn Reimer’s Jeep at Kildare Avenue West and Bond Street shortly after 2 a.m.

She was rushed to Health Sciences Centre with catastrophic injuries and died a short time later. She had been at the wheel of her sister Alexandra’s vehicle, acting as the designated driver.

Goodman, who later told police he had consumed nine or 10 beers before getting behind the wheel, rebuffed an acquaintance who took his keys and urged him not to drive, telling her, “It’s OK, I’ll meet you at the afterparty.”

One of Goodman’s friends took the keys back, claiming he would drive the truck.

Security video at the bar showed Goodman chugging his last beer before leaving with friends to buy a 15-pack of Budweiser Light.

After the crash, Goodman and his passengers ignored the pleas of witnesses to remain at the scene and left on foot, taking the beer with them.

A collision reconstructionist determined Goodman had the accelerator pressed to the floor three seconds before the collision and was driving 101 km/h at the moment of impact.

According to an agreed statement of facts previously provided to court, Goodman called his mother shortly after the crash and asked to be picked up at the Dairy Queen on Victoria Avenue East, several blocks south of the collision.

At mid-day May 1, Laurie Goodman took her son to the hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries. Then she took him to Winnipeg Police Service headquarters around 10:45 p.m., where he turned himself in.

Goodman admitted to police he had driven the vehicle and had been drinking, but he claimed he walked home and went to bed without seeing his mother.

“Every year that passes, I will be reminded that as I celebrate my son’s birthday, you buried your daughter on the same day. There is not a day that goes by that I am not reminded of the tragedy and every day my thoughts shift to you and your family.”–Laurie Goodman

Laurie Goodman told two police constables she did not know how he had arrived home on the night of the crash and she hadn’t seen him until the morning after.

Laurie Goodman, who sat next to her son in the prisoner’s box for the sentencing hearing, apologized to Reimer’s family Friday, saying her decision to lie to police was made in a moment of panic when she wanted to distance herself from the actions of her son.

“I am sorry for the pain my family has caused you through this,” she said. “Every year that passes, I will be reminded that as I celebrate my son’s birthday, you buried your daughter on the same day. There is not a day that goes by that I am not reminded of the tragedy and every day my thoughts shift to you and your family.”

Tyler Goodman’s lawyer recommended Judge Kael McKenzie sentence him to 4 1/2 years for impaired driving causing death and another year for leaving the scene, arguing it was consistent with established sentencing ranges in the province.

“Thoughts of that night are with me every waking hour … There was no excuse for what I did and I will take full responsibility for my actions.”–Tyler Goodman

“Ranges aren’t straightjackets, obviously, but we depart from ranges when there is reason to do so,” said Mat Schwartz.

Tyler Goodman apologized to Reimer’s family and said he was “devastated” by his decision to drink and drive.

“Thoughts of that night are with me every waking hour,” he said. “There was no excuse for what I did and I will take full responsibility for my actions.”

Family, lifelong friends and hockey teammates described Reimer as a vivacious and positive woman with a “wicked laugh” who was always there when someone needed help and lifted everyone in her orbit.

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Outside court, Reimer’s parents rejected Tyler Goodman’s words of remorse.

“Those are hollow words, they mean nothing,” said Jordyn’s father, Doug, of Goodman’s apology. “There will never be any forgiveness. I don’t believe there is any true remorse. His actions that night show that.”

Jordyn’s mother Karen said the Crown’s seven-year sentencing recommendation was “extremely upsetting.”

“I think we are a little bit in disbelief and shock… that is the best they can come up with. That’s what they are telling us our daughter’s life is worth.”

Judge Kael McKenzie will sentence Tyler and Laurie Goodman Nov. 22.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.