Nurse found guilty of killing her best friend while driving drunk
Posted July 25, 2023 4:43 pm.
A nurse has been found guilty of killing her best friend while driving drunk and at twice the speed limit following her birthday party.
The accused, Stéphanie Tanguay, struggled to hold back tears when she heard the judge pronounce her guilty Tuesday morning of impaired driving and criminal negligence causing the death of her friend Jasmine Charette.
On the evening of Nov. 7, 2019, three friends gathered to celebrate Tanguay’s 35th birthday at the Houston resto-bar in Terrebonne.
Around 3:20 a.m., Tanguay got behind the wheel and went with Charette to a Tim Hortons about 20 kilometres from the restaurant.
Surveillance cameras that captured the car showed Tanguay was driving drunk, which would later be confirmed by a blood test.
Two minutes after leaving the drive-thru, their vehicle left the road and hit a ditch in Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan.
Tanguay was driving at 96 km/h, nearly twice the limit allowed.
Charette, who also worked as a nurse, died instantly.
High rate of drunkenness, erratic driving, excessive speed and failure to wear a seatbelt were just some of the errors of judgement the judge cited while reading the verdict.
Tanguay now faces jail time. Sentencing will take place in August.
