A college student has been sentenced for a traffic collision last year which killed a new teacher.
Christopher Hoelzey pleaded guilty in provincial court to one count of driving without due care and attention and will be fined $1,380 (a $1,200 fine plus a victim surcharge). He will also do 25 hours of community service work and is prohibited from driving for 10 months. His sentence was published Friday.
On May 11 last year, Hoelzey was driving south on Highway 19A, heading home from Campbell River’s North Island College campus, when his vehicle crossed the double yellow line and struck Melissa Stathers, who was driving northbound. Speed, drugs and alcohol were not factors and Hoelzey has no explanation for why he crossed the line. He has no criminal or driving record.
Stathers was killed on the scene. She was a new teacher at Mark Isfeld Secondary School.
