Sask. woman sentenced in crash that killed 2 Alberta women

WATCH: A Saskatchewan woman responsible for an alcohol-related crash that killed two Alberta women will spend six years behind bars.

A Saskatchewan woman responsible for an alcohol-related crash that killed two Alberta women will spend six years behind bars.

A Saskatoon provincial courtroom was filled with emotion on Friday as family and friends of Laura and Jamie Hannah shared how their lives were forever changed in the evening of Oct.19, 2024.

That evening, the mother and daughter were on their way to a funeral in Moose Jaw when they were killed in a head-on collision on Highway 11, near Dundurn.

Court heard Brittney Barry was driving on the wrong side of the highway with two children in her truck when she crashed into the vehicle of 53-year-old Laura and 20-year-old Jamie Hannah. Barry’s two children, ages three and eight, sustained serious injuries, according to the agreed statement of facts.

Barry initially faced 16 charges. She pleaded guilty to one count of driving over the legal limit causing death and one count of driving over the legal limit causing bodily harm – the Crown stayed the rest of her charges.

“I didn’t drink that much,” Barry told RCMP at the crash scene, according to an agreed statement of facts.

RCMP officers smelled alcohol on her breath, and after failing a breathalyzer test, Barry was arrested, according to the agreed statement of facts.

Court heard Barry blew more than twice the legal limit of alcohol.

Barry has been sentenced to six years in prison. Upon completion of her sentence, she won’t be able to drive for seven years.

Several people in the courtroom could be seen wiping away tears and holding each other tightly as victim impact statements were read.

Reanne Hannah shared how her mother wouldn’t be able to walk her down the isle at her wedding and her sister wouldn’t get to be her maid of honour liked they always talked about.

Fighting back tears, Karen Seinen shared how her life will be defined as before the crash and after the crash, when she lost her sister and niece.

Senien said one of the hardest parts is knowing her niece Reanne Hannah lost all of her immediate family, recalling how Reanne’s father died when she was 14.

“Reanne’s entire family is gone,” she said.

She said roughly 700 people attended Laura and Jamie Hannah’s funeral.

Outside the courtroom, Barry’s lawyer Brian Pfefferle said Barry was initially offered a plea deal for the lesser offence of dangerous driving, but when she heard the Hannah family would face financial consequences from insurance because of that, Barry opted to plead guilty to the more serious charges.

“When someone is involved in a terrible incident like this, there’s very little they can do to make amends to the public, make amends to those affected, but I can say that Miss Barry has done absolutely everything one can do in her situation,” Pfefferle told reporters.

Friends and family remember Laura and Jamie Hannah as kind, caring, and beautiful.

“Laura and Jamie were two people full of life, and that potential is gone. It’s an unspeakable loss. We are here to be their voices and to support each other,” Karen Seinen told reporters.