A mom of a Burnaby man who was killed last fall, after he was struck by a pickup while walking along Lougheed Highway, is upset the driver involved is only facing impaired charges.
"No mention of my son. Nothing," said Sue Simmons of Nelson. "It's just so wrong on so many levels. It's so wrong."
In the early morning of Sept. 17, 25-yearold Burnaby resident Matthew Beaver was hit by a pickup truck on Lougheed. According to initial information from the Burnaby RCMP, Beaver was walking along the inside shoulder, next to the concrete median near Phillips Avenue, when he was hit. The driver called 911, but Beaver did not survive.
The driver, John Bradley Davidson, is now facing charges of driving while impaired and driving with a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit of 80 milligrams. The court case is ongoing, and Davidson has yet to enter a plea.
Drunk-driving related charges in the Criminal Code of Canada include impaired driving causing bodily harm and impaired driving causing death.
"Because there's a file before the court, we are somewhat limited in what we can say about it," said Crown spokesperson Neil MacKenzie. "This case involved a collision with a pedestrian in the early morning hours, when it was still dark. - In order to proceed with a charge causing death in a case like this - the Crown has to be able to prove, not only that the driver involved was impaired or over the legal blood alcohol limit, but also prove that the impairment caused the fatal collision. In the circumstances here, taking into a number of factors -including the time the collision occurred, the location of the collision, the clothing worn by the deceased individual - the charge assessment standard wasn't met to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the alleged impairment of the driver caused the collision."
MacKenzie also pointed out that Davidson has not yet been convicted of the impairment charges.
Meanwhile, Simmons is grieving the loss of her son.
"I'm beyond words," Simmons said. "I can't explain to you how much he's missed by everyone."
Burnaby resident Laurel Moore was Beaver's girlfriend.
"I think it's pretty awful that someone died, and (Davidson)'s walking away with minimal charges," she said. "(Matthew) was smiley and happy, and he had big goals and lots of drive. He was a good person. - I think we'd all like some justice."
Moore and Beaver's friends are now planning to poster a stretch along Lougheed, looking for witnesses that may have seen Beaver walking that night.
"We're looking for people that may remember, and I know it's going a ways back," Simmons said.
