The man who killed 18-year-old DJ Hancock in a drunk-driving crash on Highway 17 in 2014 was granted full parole on Aug. 15.
Having served less than three years behind bars, it's way too soon for Walter Carter to be a free man, said Kim Hancock, DJ's mom.
“It's insulting and maddening,” she said. “He's going on with his life, but we're still living in a nightmare. It pisses me off. At least let me and my family get over losing DJ before he's out walking on the street. We're still grieving. It's still like it happened yesterday.”
Kim said allowing Carter to walk free after such a short prison term isn't teaching youth a valuable lesson.
“What does this teach our young generation? You can kill someone, and then walk the streets again in three years,” she said.
Kim said when Carter's parole hearing came up, she thought it would take a few months for everything to be finalized. But, two days after the hearing, he was out of jail and living his life.
“It's like a kick in the face, like someone stabbed me in the heart,” she said.
As part of his release conditions, Carter is forbidden from driving for 10 years following his release, and he must give a DNA sample to the national registry. He isn't allowed to live in Greater Sudbury, and if he wishes to visit the city, he must inform the Hancock family that he will be coming.
He is to avoid drinking establishments, avoid contact with the victim's family, follow a treatment plan or program arranged by his parole supervisor and not to consume alcohol.
“The board is of the opinion that, on (full parole), you will not, by re-offending, present an undue risk to society ... and your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your re-integration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” said the parole board in its release report.
Carter was sentenced to four years, eight months and 10 days in prison after being convicted of impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, failing to comply with conditions of undertaking and driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
On Aug. 21, 2014, Carter crossed the centre line into oncoming traffic, while he was heavily under the influence of alcohol, more than three times the legal limit. The vehicle he was driving slammed head on into the vehicle occupied by DJ Hancock, killing the 18-year-old and injuring a second male victim. DJ was returning to his South End home after a hockey tryout in Lively.
At the time, Carter was under conditions of recognizance, as he had been charged with impaired driving earlier in the year.
During the trial, Carter said he used alcohol to help him deal with the break down of his marriage, often to the point of experiencing blackouts. On the night of the fatal crash, Carter had attended a festival with friends, where he drank to excess.
Moving forward, the Hancock family will continue to bring awareness to the dangers of drinking and driving by telling their story to anyone who will listen, in hopes they can prevent others from living the nightmare that was forced upon them by Carter.
“Everyone always thinks, 'Oh, it won't happen to me,' and I probably thought the same thing at one point, but it can happen to you,” Kim said. “We know we can't stop everyone from drinking and driving, but if we can stop one person from doing it, I guess we helped,”
Kim renewed her call for harsher penalties for drinking and driving.
“I don't care how bad of a day you've had, it give you no right to drive drunk on our roads,” she said. “I've had a bad three years, and you don't see me out drinking and driving. Judges need to get tougher. It's just not right.”
She doesn't mince words when it comes to her feelings about the man who killed her son.
“The only thing I can hope for Walter Carter is that he lives as miserable a life as he's forced on me,” she said. “That's fair, right?”
