Man pleads guilty to drunk driving in fatal hit-and-run
A memorial at the site of fatal March 2007 incident on Townline Road.
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Updated: November 20, 2009 4:57 PM
An Abbotsford man charged with drunk driving after the hit-and-run death of a young mom pleaded guilty in Abbotsford Provincial Court on Thursday.
David Shawn Dickey had been ordered to stand trial, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of impaired driving and failure to stop at an accident causing bodily harm.
Dickey originally faced four charges including impaired driving causing death, and dangerous driving causing death.
The charges were laid in connection to the death of 25-year-old Marilynn Denise Miller, who was struck by a truck while walking with a friend in the 3300 block of Townline Road in March 2007. The vehicle did not stop.
The friend was not seriously hurt and ran to a neighbouring house to call for help.
Emergency personnel arrived to find Miller lying unconscious against the curb. They administered first aid, but she died of her injuries.
Police found a 1995 Chevrolet pickup abandoned in the roadway a few blocks away.
A police dog handler tracked the suspected driver to a nearby home. The driver blew three times the legal limit in a blood alcohol reading, police said.
At the time of the crash, police expressed frustration they were dealing with another death caused by impaired driving.
“Now we have a five-year-old who is without her mom. Imagine the difficulties she’ll face. How do you tell a five-year-old her mom isn’t coming home?” said Const. Casey Vinet of Abbotsford Police.
“Incidents like these are tragic, senseless, preventable events that devastate families and touch entire communities.”
Dickey is due back in court March 25 for sentencing.
