A judge in Calgary has sentenced a cab driver to eight months in jail for a hit and run that killed a teenager lying in the middle of the road.
Stanislaw Maguder, who is 72, was driving in the city's northeast at night two years ago when he saw the 16-year-old on the road.
Maguder ran over Tyla Rain Rose Chipaway and continued without stopping.
A toxicology report showed the girl's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal driving limit.
Maguder will also be banned from driving for 18 months once he is released from jail.
A combination of close-circuit television footage and other security video led investigators to the cab driver, and the taxi's dashboard camera had captured the moment he ran over the girl.
Some of the security footage showed Chipaway walking back and forth in traffic before she laid down and was struck.
During his trial, Maguder testified that he thought he'd run over luggage or someone's clothes.
In his decision on Monday, Justice Sean Dunnigan said it would not have been possible for a driver to react fast enough to avoid hitting Chipaway.
"No one, short of a Formula 1 driver, and maybe not even they, could have stopped or taken evasive action," Dunnigan said.
He did say that Maguder's actions were wrong and criminal in nature, although his fleeing the scene did not cause Chipaway's death.
The judge pointed to the girl's erratic behaviour before she was hit.
"It is difficult to imagine a more tragic situation," he said. "[She] seemed determined to end her life that night."
(CTV Calgary)
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