A 32-year old man awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to drunk driving causing death in a Burnaby crash that killed a 22-year-old woman in July 2023.
Kolton Lockyer was in Vancouver Provincial Court Thursday and pleaded guilty to one count each of impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of an accident.
The first two charges relate to a fatal crash at the intersection of Hastings Street and Willingdon Avenue on July 19, 2023, according to police news releases after the incident.
Shortly before 5 a.m. that day, police said a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck collided with a Toyota Supra, killing a 22-year-old woman in the passenger seat of the Supra (identified in court documents as Abbey Bickell) and seriously injuring the driver.
Lockyer was charged in September after a yearlong Burnaby RCMP investigation.
The hit-and-run charge is related to an incident in Vancouver shortly before the fatal crash.
A Vancouver police officer started following his pickup after seeing it run a red light at a "high rate of speed," according to the Independent Investigations Office, which was called in to investigate whether that officer's actions had contributed to the crash.
The police watchdog ultimately concluded the officer, who had not chased the vehicle or tried to stop it, had not contributed.
Lockyer’s next court date is scheduled for May 22 to set a date for a sentencing hearing.
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