A grieving family gathered with friends Sunday to call for justice in the case of a mother and daughter killed in a car crash.
"Terrible. Really, really hard,” said Vern Hogue whose daughter and granddaughter. “There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about them. There's not a day that I'm not upset about it."
In 2013, 43-year-old mother Jeannie Haug and her 23-year-old daughter Brittney Chegus were travelling south on Gateway Road when an oncoming SUV crossed the center line and hit their vehicle.
In June, the judge acquitted Crystal Vandal, the woman driving the SUV, of two counts of dangerous driving and the family says the Crown has told them it will not launch an appeal.
"I've got more points on my licence for not wearing a seatbelt and missing a turn than she gets for taking the lives of two of our loved ones,” said Darrel Haug, Jeannie’s brother.
In court, Vandal testified her passenger had grabbed the steering wheel and blamed the crash on him.
“She could not be expected to regulate her driving based on others actions,” said the judge, Ryan Rolson.
“Speed alone is not enough for careless driving in these circumstances.”
About 30 family and friends gathered at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Sunday before marching to the courthouse and then on to East Kildonan to the site of the crash.
"For nothing to come out of it was just really heart-breaking all over again,” said Yvonne St Laurent, Jeannie Haug’s best friend since childhood.
Not knowing where else to turn family and friends took to the streets on Sunday, hoping to at least draw more public attention to the tragic loss they’re dealing with.
"I'm the father. I should not be here and my daughter and granddaughter gone,” said Hogue. “You know what I'm saying?”
