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Penticton  

Lives changed forever

Dustin Godfrey

Nothing will ever be the same for two families whose lives crossed paths in tragic ways.

Elizabeth McIntosh says she and her family are "doing (their) best to move forward" following an emotional court case over RCMP Const. Ace Jimmy Stewart, who struck and killed McIntosh's five-year-old son in his truck.

Stewart pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention Monday morning over the September 2015 incident.

"I just want to say that Brian and Caleb and I are doing our very best to move forward," McIntosh said, referring to her husband and her other son. "We carry James with us every second of every day."

Family and friends packed the courthouse to show support for two families devastated by the incident.

"(It's) a tragedy for everyone. I mean, everybody has suffered," Stewart's defence lawyer Neville McDougall said following the sentencing. "As the facts are, here, in a momentary lapse, and as the judge said, lives have been changed forever."

Stewart received a $1,500 fine for the case over the incident, which was deemed a case of negligence.

"We've all been there. We've all had that car honk the horn at us, we've all had that, didn't see that motorcycle," McDougall said. "It's not that we were driving bad, it's not that we were jacking around, it was there to be seen, you simply didn't see it, and that's what this case illustrates, how that momentary second can be so tragic."

Now, McIntosh says she's holding onto every moment she has with her surviving son, Caleb.

"Parents, hold your children, you never know when it'll be the last time you'll see them," McIntosh said.

"Take that extra attention with them. You will never regret too much."



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