A B.C. courtroom viewed shocking video Friday in a sentencing hearing for the man behind the wheel in a deadly 2022 hit-and-run in Vancouver.
Alexandre Romero-Arata has pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death in the June 19, 2022, collision in Kitsilano that left 24-year-old Irish national Eoghan Byrne dead.
The court heard he had been drinking, ran multiple red lights, and hit speeds of up to 152 kilometres per hour.
Crown prosecutor Mark Myhre told the court that a friend of Romero-Arata’s had originally been driving the vehicle after she concluded he was too intoxicated to drive, but that at some point he’d told her to pull over and got behind the wheel himself.
Video clips recorded by the friend show him running several red lights, and at one point show the speedometer at 140 km/h. The video also captured Romero-Arata smiling and saying “I ain’t stopping for no red light.”
The court heard that Byrne’s friend Mike McGovern, who was visiting from Ireland at the time, had been walking home from the pub with the victim when the crash happened.
McGovern tried to grab Byrne and pull him out of the way of the speeding vehicle as they crossed West 4th Avenue at Arbutus Street.
“Eoghan completely disappeared before my eyes,” he stated in a victim impact statement read by the Crown.
“I cried and screamed at the shock and horror of seeing my friend’s body destroyed.”
The court heard that Romero-Arata’s friend told him to “watch out,” but that he’d sped up instead. She closed her eyes and heard a bang, as Byrne was struck and killed instantly.
The court heard that Romero-Arata fled the scene, and phoned 911 the following day to falsely report his car had been stolen the previous evening.
McGovern’s mother, who attended the hearing via video link, described how her son’s life had been “permanently altered,” and that he had suffered mental health issues severe enough to result in hospitalization.
Byrne’s family, who travelled to Canada from Ireland for the hearing, described how they had been shattered by his death.
His mother Mary told the court she had been planning to travel to Vancouver to visit him for his 25th birthday, and instead had to come to the city to collect his body.
“Every day I wake up to the nightmare that Eoghan is no longer with us,” she said.
“He’d literally been ripped out of our lives by the impact of that car.”
His father Eugene addressed Romero-Arata directly, saying he appeared to have a “complete and total lack of remorse.”
Throughout the victim impact statements, Romero-Arata avoided looking at the speakers.
Prosecutors highlighted Romero-Arata’s record, which includes 15 Motor Vehicle Act incidents in an 18-month period
The Crown is seeking five years in prison and a 15-year driving ban.
Romero-Arata’s defence has yet to make its submissions.