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KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK WEDNESDAY
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MARCH 14, 2018 | Volume 31 No. 21
TITANS DO IT AGAIN
WEATHER Cloudy High 11 C Low 4 C SNOW REPORT Sun Peaks Resort Mid-mountain: 188 cm Alpine: 235 cm Harper Mountain Total snow: 295 cm
One week after the South Kamloops secondary senior girls won a B.C. hoops title, the school’s boys repeated the feat. And, as with the girls’ title tilt, KTW was at the game in Langley
SPORTS/A27
Plea expected in fatal hit-and-run case TIM PETRUK STAFF REPORTER tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
FACEBOOK PHOTO Jason Gourlay is charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident and attempting to obstruct justice in connection with the death of Jennifer Gatey, a South Kamloops secondary student who was one day shy of her 17th birthday. The hit-andrun occurred on Nov. 4, 2016, in Aberdeen.
GATEY FAMILY PHOTO
MARCH IS DENTISTRY MONTH
The man accused of killing a Kamloops teenager in a 2016 hit-and-run crash on a residential street near her family’s Aberdeen home is expected to agree to a plea deal, a B.C. Supreme Court judge has been told — something the teen’s father said would be “a great relief.” Jason Gourlay, 43, is charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident and attempting to obstruct justice in connection with the death of Jennifer Gatey, a South Kamloops secondary student one day shy of her 17th birthday. Gatey died on Nov. 4, 2016, after being struck by a vehicle on Pacific Way south of Aberdeen Drive, just behind her family’s home. She was walking to catch a bus to the Tournament Capital Centre for a workout. A Jeep belonging to Gourlay was identified early in the investigation as potentially having been involved in the incident. The vehicle was seized four days after the crash and has been in the care of police since. In court on Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan said he and defence lawyer Jeremy Jensen are very close to an agreement for a guilty plea, but are still ironing out the details. “My friend and I have been engaged in resolution discussions for several weeks and we are both, I think, as confident as we can be that this matter is going to be resolved,” Flanagan said, noting he expects “certainty” by the end of the week. Cameron Gatey, Jennifer’s father, said the family is looking forward to closure —
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If there is, in fact, a “guilty plea, it will be a
great relief to our family ... To know that someone may be admitting guilt would bring some resolution.
”
— CAMERON GATEY, father of Jennifer Gatey, the 16-year-old girl who was killed in a November 2016 hit-and-run.
hopefully sooner than later. “If there is in fact a guilty plea deal, it will be a great relief to our family,” he said. “It’s been a terribly troubling 18 months and one of the issues has been the fact no one has taken responsibility for the situation that has been created. To know that someone may be admitting guilt would bring some resolution.” Gatey said he has been “dreading” the thought of sitting through Gourlay’s potential trial. “It disturbs me greatly,” he said. “If it’s resolved with a conclusion where someone admits guilt, that would be a relief.” Lawyers will return to court Friday to update B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley on their progress. If a deal is not reached, a voir dire dealing with the admissibility of the Jeep as evidence is slated to begin later this month.
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