Man gets seven years for fatal drunk-driving crash Mother of victim outraged at sentence that could see killer serve 28 months By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 3:58 PM CST Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023 Last Modified: 3:56 PM CST Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023 Updates

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A grieving mother erupted in anger after the man who killed her daughter in a high-speed drunk-driving collision was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Tyler Goodman pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident for the May 1, 2022 crash that killed 24-year-old Jordyn Reimer. He will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence, or 28 months.

“Two years in jail, that’s justice?” Jordyn’s mother Karen Reimer shouted Wednesday from the front row of a packed court gallery.

“This is garbage.”

The sentence by Judge Kael McKenzie matched that recommended by prosecutors at a two-day hearing earlier this month. Goodman’s lawyer Mat Schwartz recommended a sentence of 5 ½ years.

Close to 80 of Reimer’s family members and friends, all wearing purple T-shirts with her name and picture, attended Wednesday’s hearing.

Before sentencing Goodman, and in seeming anticipation of the disappointment his decision might arouse, McKenzie spoke about the role of the justice system.

“Those who look to the criminal justice system for vindication of the life that was stolen need to understand that the objective of sentencing is not reflective of the value of a life,” McKenzie said.

“The sad reality is that there is no sentence that the court can impose to reflect the kind of person Jordyn Reimer was, the heartbreak her death has caused, or to compensate for the things she will never have an opportunity to do, such as becoming a mother, or obtaining her master’s degree. The court process simply cannot undo the harm caused.”

Court heard Tyler Goodman drank nine or 10 beers at Joe’s Pandora Inn on Bond Street and ignored pleas he not get behind the wheel of his mother’s pickup truck.

Goodman had two friends in the passenger seats when he blew through three stop signs at high speed, crashing into Jordyn Reimer’s Jeep at Kildare Avenue West and Bond Street shortly after 2 a.m.

Goodman and his friends left the scene on foot, ignoring calls from witnesses to remain until police arrived.

Reimer was taken 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.

“One of the most obvious heartaches of this case was that Jordyn Reimer was killed by a drunk driver while she herself was acting as a designated driver,” McKenzie said Wednesday. “The utter injustice has been unbearable for many.” A collision reconstructionist determined Goodman had the accelerator pressed to the floor three seconds before the collision and was driving 101 km/h in a 50 km/h zone at the moment of impact.

“One of the most obvious heartaches of this case was that Jordyn Reimer was killed by a drunk driver while she herself was acting as a designated driver.”–Judge Kael McKenzie

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 midday on May 1, Laurie Goodman took her son to the hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries. It was at the hospital that she learned about the collision. She took Tyler 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.

Laurie Goodman lied to police, saying she did not know how he had arrived home on the night of the crash and hadn’t seen him until the morning after.

She pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and was sentenced Wednesday to six months house arrest.

Reimer’s family and friends filed 125 victim impact statements with the court. Over the course of a two-day hearing earlier this month, 45 of them were read out in court, many of them describing a young woman of tremendous promise who lifted everyone in her orbit.

Karen Reimer expressed frustration at the conclusion of the two-day hearing that dozens more people who wanted to read their statements were not heard.

McKenzie said Wednesday additional court dates for 2024 would have had to be set to hear all the people who wanted to read their statements.

“It is a fine balance between giving individuals enough time to read their statements in open court and ensuring that these matters proceed in a timely fashion,” McKenzie said.

“Of those statements that were read, it was clear that the sorrow, the pain and some anger will last for lifetimes. Each person told of the life stolen, the lives forever changed and the chilling heartbreak of a community.”

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.

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