Colby Heid has been sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing the death of Tanner Kaufmann.
A judge also banned Heid from driving for five years as part of the sentence handed down Tuesday.
Kaufmann, 37, was killed last September when he was hit by a vehicle while walking his dog on a gravel road on the outskirts of Regina.
An RCMP officer testified that when Heid was found, he was in the passenger seat of his truck considerably intoxicated and his head was nodding. His blood alcohol level registered .293.
Court heard that Heid told RCMP that he had been at a family gathering drinking and watching a football game. He told police he went out to get a pack of cigarettes.
Thirteen victim impact statements were read in court during the sentencing.
The victim’s wife, Alyscia Kaufmann, told Heid she wanted “the preventable act to be forever burned in your mind.”
“I hope you never have to experience this, I truly do,” she said. “My children did not choose to lose their father, mentor and playmate.”
The victim’s mother, Gwen Kaufmann, said she lives with a “shattered, broken heart,” since the death of her son.
"I could not breathe, I wanted to die myself,” she said. “This tragedy has ruined my entire life."
Heid has no previous criminal convictions, but court heard that he has had two speeding tickets since 2014. He also received a ticket for failing to stop at a stop sign.
A lawyer for Heid said his client has accepted responsibility for his actions and the choices he made that day.
“Every day I think about the great man I took away from so many people,” Heid said in court.
CTV Regina’s Creeson Agecoutay was at court for the proceedings:
