Drunk driver who killed girl, 11, was fighting with dad when he ran a red light, court hears

Karl Schwartz was driving drunk — his blood alcohol at twice the legal limit — when he sped through a red light and T-boned a minivan, killing an 11-year-old girl sitting in the back seat.

Schwartz, 32, pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death on Friday.

Tammy Truong, 11, was killed on Sept. 20, 2013 when Schwartz's truck hit her family's minivan at the intersection of 52 St. and Erinwoods Dr. S.E. 

Distracted, drunk driving

Schwartz had been drinking beer with co-workers. Just before 7 p.m., he got into his Ford F150 pickup truck and was having a fight on his cell phone with his father, according to an agreed statement of facts read aloud in court.

In anger, Schwartz threw his cell phone on the floor of the truck and as he drunkenly reached down to pick it up, he ran a red light and crashed into Son Minh Truong's minivan that was carrying his wife, Trang Thi Nguyen, and their daughter Tammy.

The girl suffered massive upper body and head injuries when the truck struck the family's van, forcing the sliding door inward. The impact also caused the door to open and the child was flung from the van, landing on the pavement.

She died at the scene. The parents both suffered broken bones.

Schwartz's truck rolled onto its roof in the collision, he passed out and had to be extracted.

Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Neil Wittmann accepted Schwartz's guilty plea and ordered a pre-sentence psychiatric report.

Defence lawyer Danusia Bourdon and Crown prosecutor Kevin Doyle will make sentencing arguments in March.

Truong's family members were not in court for Schwartz's guilty plea.

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