Tears flowed in court on Wednesday as the family and friends of a nine-year old girl killed in a Calgary crash spoke publicly about the magnitude of their loss. Victoria Desjardins was killed in a five-vehicle crash on Boxing Day 2024. “There’s still so much pain,” said her mother Amanda Reitmeier in court. “I just need to hear her again.” Duane Nepoose admitted to dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, robbery and fleeing a police officer in the crash. The now 31-year-old robbed a pharmacy then stole a minivan and was speeding when he ran a red light. The five-car crash Nepoose caused injured seven others, including Desjardins’ older sister Maddison and their mother. All three of them were rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition. The hearing included 13 victim’s impact statements, several of them read out loud by the people who wrote them. “I will never hear her voice again, her laugh,” Reitmeier said. “Time doesn’t heal, life just keeps moving on,” she added. Family say Victoria was a bright, funny child with a strong moral compass who loved wolves and wanted to be a football player. “Losing my best friend was the hardest thing I could imagine,” her sister Maddison wrote in her statement. Both Maddison and Reitmeier say they now fear riding in vehicles, saying even though they were all wearing their seatbelts their trip ended in tragedy. “I remember a black van coming really fast at us and it all went black,” Maddison said in her statement. “I felt like it was my fault. It was my appointment,” Maddison added. Reitmeier feels guilty because Victoria originally wanted to stay home to play with the Lego she got for Christmas but decided to come with so her mom wouldn’t be lonely during her sister’s appointment. “I am broken. I am mad. I am sad. I am numb,” said her mother. Victoria’s grandfather Roy Duncan also spoke in court wearing a wolf sweater in honour of Victoria. “I’m not able to sleep at night,” Duncan said. “When I’m driving sometimes, I have to pull over and have a cry.” He mourns never being able to do papa and granddaughter things again, like seeing her swinging or digging worms to go fishing together. The Crown wants Nepoose to get 9.5 to 10.5 years in jail and a lifetime driving ban. He says Nepoose was driving as much as 180 kilometres per hour and nearly caused several other collisions. Court heard that a psychiatric report described Nepoose as a high risk to violently offend again. Prosecutor Todd Buziak described Nepoose as a “bomb waiting to go off.” “We’re hoping that we get justice for Victoria,” said Kelsey Morash, an end-of-life specialist who has been supporting the family since the tragedy. “Nothing is going to bring her back, no amount of time is ever going to be enough, but we are hoping that the justice prevails.” Sentencing was originally scheduled for November 2025, but more time was needed for a forensic risk assessment. The date for Nepoose’s sentence will be determined at another court date in May.
