Pedestrian killed, driver charged in hit, run

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This article was published 27/09/2023 (712 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman crossing a St. Vital intersection was struck and killed Tuesday night by a vehicle that fled the scene.

Two hours later and less than five kilometres away, a man was arrested and charged with impaired driving causing death and driving without a licence.

A red Audi A4 was travelling at high speed on Fermor Avenue, headed east towards St. Mary’s Road, at about 8:35 p.m., when it blew through a red light, Winnipeg police said Wednesday.

The Audi narrowly missed other vehicles when it entered the intersection, before the vehicle hit a woman crossing on the east side of the intersection from the south side of Fermor, police said.

The woman — who was in her 40s, police said — was fatally injured. The Audi and its driver fled the scene, officials said.

“We have identified (the victim),” Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said.

“It’s an incredibly sad situation. I believe family may have also attended the scene. It’s really tragic, an emotional situation and so senseless.”

Michalyshen said it was his understanding the woman was walking in the area to visit family nearby.

Winnipeg police traffic investigators found the suspect vehicle parked at a gas station on the 1000 block of Beaverhill Boulevard in Southdale, within two hours of the collision, Michalyshen said.

Kelvin Mark Lavallee, 25, of Winnipeg, has been charged with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop at the scene of a collision, being impaired within two hours of driving, and driving without a licence.

Lavallee remained in custody and was due in court Wednesday morning.

“Police, obviously, are opposed to his release,” said Michalyshen.

Lavallee has few convictions on his provincial record, but was on supervised probation at the time of the collision, court records show.

In August 2020, he pleaded guilty to taking a motor vehicle without the consent of its owner on Jan. 21, 2020. He was given a conditional discharge and six months of unsupervised probation.

In July 2021, he failed to attend court while on a release order. In September 2021, he failed to comply with the curfew check condition of a release order.

He pleaded guilty to both charges in March, and was given conditional discharges and a year of supervised probation.

“Collisions do occur, and fatalities do happen, but when you throw a situation where you have an impaired driver… it’s so preventable. Some people just still don’t get it,” Michalyshen said.

“Based on our investigation so far, alcohol is a factor, and clearly speed, as well. Nothing good comes of that, every single time.”

Police blocked off the intersection from shortly after the fatal collision until about 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Little evidence remained of the fatality at the busy intersection Wednesday, apart from scraps of yellow crime scene tape on the southwest corner of Fermor Avenue.

Michalyshen said police are frustrated with impaired drivers who choose to get behind the wheel.

“We’ve run campaigns where we talk about the impacts — it’s not just losing your licence and being hit from a monetary standpoint. People’s lives are being permanently impacted and there are people who will never recover because of the losses they have sustained,” he said.

“It’s frustrating, it’s sad, it’s emotional, not just for the people directly involved — it should be for everyone. We shouldn’t just read these releases or hear it on the news and pass it by.”

City police have asked anyone with information, including video or dash camera footage, to call traffic investigators at 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca