A mother is upset and disappointed that no charges will be pursued against the man who allowed an 11-year-old girl to get behind the wheel of his sport utility vehicle, leading to a rollover that killed her 12-year-old daughter.
"He gave them the keys to drive," Sherri Quam said. "I'm very angry and I'm very devastated and I can't believe the justice system is this sad."
Quam's daughter, Sheraya, died the evening of May 17, 2013 when the 1994 Jeep YJ she was in went off the Causeway Forest Service Road near Mackenzie.
Sheraya had been camping near Lions Lake with a number of others when in the afternoon she and a friend began taking turns driving the Jeep under the supervision of Vincent Chris Clarke, who was 41 years old at the time.
According to a report from coroner Adele Lambert, at about 6:45 p.m. the three were returning to the campsite on the gravel road.
"The vehicle was traveling close to the edge of the road and when the driver attempted to move towards the centre, the steering was overcorrected causing the vehicle to skid across the road into the ditch and then overturn," Lambert said.
Sheraya was not wearing a seatbelt at the time and was ejected from the vehicle, landing on her back with the vehicle's roll bar pinning her to the ground.
A mechanical inspection after the incident showed that a lift kit had been installed, which would have reduced the vehicle's stability. Neither of the girls had any driving experience, Lambert also noted.
Police carried out an investigation and forwarded a report to Crown counsel, which decides if charges can be pursued. Quam learned late last week that Clarke will not be charged.
Neil Mackenzie, spokesman for the provincial Ministry of Justice's criminal justice branch, said a charge of criminal negligence causing death was considered but Crown concluded there was not a strong likelihood of conviction.
Mackenzie said Crown must prove the accused showed a wanton or reckless disregard for the safety of others and show there was a substantial departure from the conduct of a reasonably prudent person.
"And conduct that may have been irresponsible, or careless or even somewhat negligent won't necessarily meet the test of criminal negligence," Mackenzie said. "It's a stringent standard that Crown has to be able to meet to prove that conduct was criminally negligent, and this was certainly an extremely tragic case, but Crown concluded the available evidence wasn't sufficient to support a charge of criminal negligence."
Quam said she thought Clarke would be charged with something even if it wasn't criminal negligence causing death.
She added she never gave him consent to allow her daughter to go driving.
He also should have made sure Sheraya had her seatbelt on, said Quam, who understands her daughter had her seatbelt on but took it off to lean forward to talk to the two in front.
Quam knew Clarke only from a distance and has not talked to him since the incident.
"I can't talk to him," Quam said. "From what I heard, he's pretty devastated and who wouldn't be? It's like I said to Crown, I'm not looking to throw him in jail and throw the key away, I'm just looking for a consequence to his actions.
"You letting him go, what are you telling people? It's OK to allow a child to drive because if something happens and they're under the age of 12, oh well, nobody's responsible?"
Quam described her daughter, who had three older brothers and one younger sister, as a lively girl who liked sports. Her girls hockey team has since retired her jersey and a tournament in her name is now played each year.
"To keep her home was really difficult because she just liked to go and live and laugh and she was amazing," Quam said.
The loss of Sheraya has had a devastating impact on the family.
They ended up moving from Mackenzie to McBride, giving up good jobs and a home they had planned to buy out by the end of this year because they had trouble handling the emotions that came with coming across the people tied to the event everywhere they went in the small community.
Her fianc is working while Quam remains on disability and continues to take counseling.
"I haven't really been able to work since that day," said Quam, who added her employer, Conifex, has been very supportive.
"I can't cope, I have panic attacks really bad, I cry a lot - it's really hard on the family," Quam said.
Quam and her family are considering talking to a lawyer about the possibility of suing Clarke for emotional damages and the financial loss that has caused.
"I don't want to make millions, that's not the point," Quam said. "It'll never bring her back and that's what I'd really like, but he's just totally destroyed our whole lives."
Lobbying to stiffen the law regarding adults who allow children to drive is also on the agenda.
"An adult was in charge that day and he should be held accountable when you're putting little kids behind a wheel," Quam said. "We do definitely need to change all that."
ICBC spokeswoman Michelle Hargrave could not speak to the specific incident but said the public auto insurer will not cover the damage caused if the vehicle's owner allows someone without a driver's licence behind the wheel and there is a crash.
The stipulation applies not only to highways but to crashes on forest service roads, she said.
Attempts to reach Clarke were not successful.
