EDMONTON — RCMP and a Crown prosecutor have taken the unusual step of charging a man with four counts of manslaughter in a fatal collision that killed four members of the same family northeast of Edmonton.
The 30-year-old suspect has been charged with 12 offences, including manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and impaired driving causing death in a collision July 23 near Bonnyville, Alta.
The collision, which happened just east of the Kehewin Cree Nations, killed Alexis Josephine Gadwa, 15, Sarah Margaret Gadwa, 14, their mother Frances (Stella) Yvonne Gadwa, 35, and her common-law husband, 51-year-old Ivan Charles Paul.
They were on their way to the hospital in Bonnyville because one of the girls was sick, a relative said.
The male driver of the second vehicle was taken to Bonnyville hospital, then transferred to an Edmonton hospital.
It took police more than a month to lay charges in the crash because the investigation was so extensive, said RCMP Cpl. Darren Anderson.
“It was a challenging investigation,” Anderson said.
He noted that manslaughter charges being laid in a fatal collision is a somewhat unique situation. But after conferring with the Crown attorney for the region, officials decided such charges were warranted, he said.
“They did an extensive investigation into everything that occurred before the collision, the collision itself and the results from the lab.”
Police believe both alcohol and drugs were factors in the crash.
Clayton Tyler Procinski, 30, of Bonnyville is charged with four counts of manslaughter, four counts of criminal negligence causing death, four counts of impaired driving causing death and driving over .08 causing death.
Procinski was arrested in Bonnyville on Friday and remains in custody.
Procinski is to appear in court in Bonnyville on Tuesday.