A crash resulted in the deaths of two young girls and shut down Lougheed Highway for several hours in April 2017 has had some closure after two drivers plead guilty to driving without due care and attention and were sentenced.Monday, in Port Coquitlam provincial court, Hamed Darbarpar was sentenced to one day in jail and six months of probation for his role in the crash that killed Ella Reese Hernandez, 9, a Coquitlam resident and her cousin Tyler Mollie Wong Hernandez, who was three and a New Westminster resident.
Darbarpar was 20 and living in Port Coquitlam when he was charged with driving without due care and attention last May.
Judge Deirdre Pothecary presided over the case during which Darbarpar received his sentence in front of a crowd that also included members of the Hernandez family.
Darbarpar’s sentencing follows an earlier sentencing of another driver, Adam Goulding, who on Dec. 16, 2018, was also sentenced to one day in jail and six months of probation after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention.
The court proceedings bring some closure to the case that rocked the Tri-Cities community two years ago when the public learned one of the girls attended a School District 43 school, which provided grief counselling to students at the time.
A YouCaring fundraising page was also set up online, which raised more than $78,000 for the families.
According to Coquitlam RCMP at the time, three vehicles were involved in the accident north of Pitt River Road just before 6:20 p.m. April 28, with eight occupants in all.
In addition to the two young girls, who were in one vehicle, a 30-year old woman was killed in the accident.
