Crawford later told a probation officer that she was high on methamphetamine and convinced Rhind posed a threat to her daughter, who was not there and whom he did not know. <\/p>\n
At sentencing, the court<\/a> first heard from Darcel , who said the day her mother called her and said her brother wasn\u2019t going to survive was the worst day of her life.<\/p>\n She said since his death, she had constantly asked herself if she had done enough as a sister to show her brother that she loved him.<\/p>\n Darcel hid her pain and put on a brave face, she said, seeing her parents less because she was afraid of saying the wrong thing and causing them further hurt. <\/p>\n \u201cMy pain is too heavy to carry.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she hoped everything she had said had \u201csunk in\u201d for Crawford, and she could understand the extent of the damage she had caused.<\/p>\n Then Rhind\u2019s aunt, Janine Taituha, spoke, holding a photo of her nephew. <\/p>\n She said she spoke not only for herself but for their \u201centire wh\u0101nau\u201d.<\/p>\n Rhind wasn\u2019t just another victim, Taituha said. He was their son, father, brother, nephew and friend.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was loved beyond words, and he is missed beyond measure.\u201d<\/p>\n The circumstances of Rhind\u2019s death made their grief even harder to carry, she said, leaving them with the knowledge that he was without the \u201cimmediate help\u201d that might have given him a chance to survive.<\/p>\n She said that, in watching her sister, Rhind\u2019s mother, experience the loss of her only son, she had seen the \u201cheartbreak, anguish and loneliness\u201d in her eyes.<\/p>\n Taituha said she used to watch her sister embrace Rhind while he was alive and nowshe watched her kneel on the ground to hug his headstone.<\/p>\n \u201cNo mother should ever have to love her child that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Taituha said that after the sentencing, the wh\u0101nau would continue to uphold Rhind\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen everyone leaves this courtroom, we will still be living this nightmare,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe will never stop loving him, we will never stop missing him. We will say his name.\u201d<\/p>\n They would tell his 8-year-old son who his father was and share his stories, she said.<\/p>\n Victim was kind, with the \u2018gift of the gab\u2019<\/p>\n Rhind\u2019s sister, Sarah Rhind, said in her statement that her brother was one of the kindest people she knew, with the \u201cgift of the gab\u201d who would talk to anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cHe lived and loved with all his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n She said his death created a ripple of loss and heartbreak that would be felt across their family for generations.<\/p>\n Another of his sisters, Toni Rhind, said that when her brother\u2019s son heard a person named \u201cToni\u201d had murdered her brother, the boy was confused, thinking it was her.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know how heartbreaking this is?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n No sentence handed down could replace the life that was stolen, she said.<\/p>\n Janine Rhind, also the victim\u2019s sister, said having to sit through the trial was mentally and emotionally exhausting.<\/p>\n But she did it to know what had happened to her brother, including how long he was left and whether he suffered, she said.<\/p>\n In the sentencing submissions, Crown prosecutor Aysser Al-Janabi pointed out that it was not in dispute that Crawford was driving on the wrong side of the road at excessive speed when she hit Rhind and drove away.<\/p>\n That \u201cmanner of her driving\u201d was an aggravating factor, she said, as well as Rhind\u2019s vulnerability at the time, as he was walking alone at night with his back to the car when he was struck.<\/p>\n The impact of the crash shattered Crawford\u2019s windscreen, Al-Janabi said, and she must have been aware of what had happened, but she did not stop.<\/p>\n While not extensive or sophisticated, Al-Janabi argued, there was a significant degree of premeditation, as shown by CCTV footage of the crash.<\/p>\n She said the footage clearly showed Crawford drove past Rhind before turning around, driving back and striking him. <\/p>\n Crawford\u2019s lawyer, Ethan Butler, disagreed, saying the U-turn showed some premeditation but not a significant amount.<\/p>\n \u201c[It could be] better classified as a knee-jerk reaction rather than a premeditated act,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n He submitted that his client had a difficult upbringing, marked by violence and drug abuse.<\/p>\n Methamphetamine in her system<\/p>\n She had also suffered the death of her partner in 2018 which led to a relapse in her methamphetamine addiction<\/a>.<\/p>\nCrown prosecutor Aysser Al-Janabi prosecuted the case. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n