Lindsey Hauck (left) and Erin Rae Smith.
Image Credit: Contributed
March 03, 2015 - 12:20 PM
VERNON - Charges have been laid in relation to an accident on 32 Street that took the life of a Vernon nurse in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, 2014.
Vernon RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says Lori Victoria Vance will appear in court March 19 to face charges of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm.
Night shift nurses Erin Rae Smith, 33, from Kelowna, and Lindsey Hauck, 31, from Vernon, left Vernon Jubilee Hospital for a routine coffee run around 1:15 a.m. that day. Their car was T-boned and Smith died at the scene. Hauck was rushed back to Vernon Jubilee with serious injuries. She was later transferred to Kelowna General Hospital.
The seriousness of the crash led RCMP to put a call out for witnesses to help with the investigation, which Molendyk said would help them build a strong case.
“We want to make sure that at the end of the day we have completed a thorough investigation to go forward, because in a case like this a young woman has lost her life and another will be affected for the rest of her days,” Molendyk said of the investigation back in January. “It isn’t just those involved, it’s also a ripple effect in the community.”
An online fundraising campaign continues to help Hauck with medical expenses.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015