Winnipeg man, mother plead guilty to charges in fatal crash

A Winnipeg man and his mother have pleaded guilty to charges relating to the death of a 24-year-old woman in an impaired driving crash last year.

Tyler Goodman pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and failure to stop at an accident resulting in death in the Court of King’s Bench on Monday, while his mother Laurie Goodman pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice. Judge Kael McKenzie accepted the pleas.

Jordyn Reimer, 24, was hit and killed in a car crash on May 1, 2022, at Bond Street and Kildare Avenue West in Transcona. She was acting as the designated driver.

Friends and family of Jordyn Reimer came to witness the pleas.

Tyler's statement was read in court, saying he did not stop at a stop sign and collided with Reimer's car at 2 a.m. In his statement, court heard a Winnipeg police investigation found his vehicle was travelling at 108 km/hour, while Jordyn's car was going 52.

Tyler's statement said he had had nine or 10 drinks at that point between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. It also said Tyler and his two passengers picked up a case of beer before driving. Tyler said one of his friends noticed he smelled of alcohol the night of the crash, telling him not to drive and taking his keys.

Tyler said someone else offered to drive and took the keys, before later handing them back him. He then drove that friend and another passenger, eventually crashing.

The statement said Tyler and his two passengers stood in an alley after the crash, and then left the scene on foot. He then called his mother, who picked him up and drove him home at 2:30 a.m.

Laurie's statement said they went to the police the next evening. She said she then told the police she did not know what time her son got home and didn't see him until the morning.

Jordyn's family says they are frustrated the pleas took a year to hear and Goodman's passengers will not face charges.

"Our whole family wanted to go after the passengers," Karen Reimer, Jordyn's mother said Monday. "One of the passengers took the keys and gave the keys back to him when someone else worked so hard to keep everybody safe."

"We will never be okay," said Alex Reimer, Jordyn’s older sister. "We will continue to fight for Jordyn in the best way we can."

She says Jordyn was the glue for her family and loved in her community.

"She was a powerful individual," Alex said. "She would be here fighting as hard as she could, to advocate for any of these people behind us."

The Goodmans will return to court for sentencing in the fall.

Alex says the family does not have justice and want to see longer sentences for drunk driving,

"We are struggling day to day. We have the life sentence," Alex said. "We believe very strongly that the system is not set up to support victims and victims' families appropriately. The sentencing is not reflective of the gravity."