Fourteen months after Trystan Sorensen was run down and killed as he longboarded west of Penhold, a woman has admitted her guilt.
Jessica Lyn Masyk, 26, entered guilty pleas to three charges on Wednesday, cutting short a trial.
Masyk, of Penhold, pleaded guilty to driving while unauthorized, failing to remain at the scene of a collision and public mischief for filing a false police report.
She appeared in Red Deer provincial court on Wednesday before Judge John Holmes.
Sorensen, 18, was killed while longboarding with a friend.
His mother, Amy Sorensen, said she carries Trystan with her all the time.
“He’s with me right here,” she said, pointing to a heart shaped necklace outside the Red Deer Courthouse.
“Trystan had a tremendous sense of humour. He loved making people happy. I miss him tremendously, he was a wonderful kid.”
Amy Sorensen has attended every one of Masyk’s court appearances. She puts a series of items on the bar that separates the public gallery from the lawyers, judges and clerks. Among them is an urn with Trystan’s ashes and a picture of Trystan.
Masyk, her hair died pink, stood silently with her hands behind her back as Crown prosecutor Ed Ring read the facts of the case into the record.
Just after 10 p.m. on May 20, 2014, Sorensen and his friend Roman Black were longboarding on Hwy 592 west of Penhold. Sorensen stood at the crest of a hill and watched as Black rode down. Black stopped and got off his longboard. Sorensen then rode down the hill.
Masyk crested the hill in her Dodge Durango and struck Sorensen.
In his statement to police, Black said he saw Masyk stop the vehicle and get out to look around. She then got back into the vehicle and sped off.
A day after the collision, Masyk reported her vehicle stolen to Innisfail RCMP. She said someone had taken it from her back alley around 8 p.m. on the evening of May 20 and that she had both keys for the vehicle.
“You don’t go through that much trouble to hide something if you haven’t done something wrong,” said Amy Sorensen,
At 10 p.m., Innisfail RCMP received a report of a burned vehicle in a farmer’s field. It was Masyk’s vehicle.
During this time, Masyk had confided in a few people that she was in the driver and was involved in the crash.
On May 24, Masyk went to the Innisfail RCMP detachment and turned herself in. She refused a lawyer and gave a statement to police after hearing her Charter rights read to her.
Masyk told police that after the crash, she contacted Jesse Miller and Logan Graham, both of whom came to her residence.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the vehicle was doused with diesel fuel and lit on fire by Graham and Miller. It is unclear if Miller faced criminal charges for his role.
Graham was convicted of a role and received an 18-month conditional sentence and 12 months probation.
Steven Lagace pleaded guilty to arson in relation to the burning of the truck and was sentenced to 26 months jail on that and other unrelated charges.
On April 15, 2014, Masyk received a letter from Alberta Transportation saying her licence was suspended due to excessive demerits.
Masyk’s counsel Kaitlyn Perrin of Calgary said she believed the sentencing hearing will take some time as she and Ring are far apart on what they believe the sentence should be.
A pre-sentence report was ordered and Masyk’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Red Deer provincial court.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com