UPDATE 4:45 p.m.

Judge Lisa Wyatt laid out to the courtroom on Monday how Travis Hennessy sped down Highway 33 in Rutland on June 20, 2018, before crashing into a cement fence near Gerstmar Road, killing Lenard Haines.

A Kelowna RCMP officer had been patrolling the area at approximately 3 a.m. when he witnessed a silver 1999 Mercury Cougar speeding south on Hollywood Road. It made an abrupt right turn at a red light without stopping.

The vehicle then travelled west on Highway 33 going more than 110 kilometres per hour and swerving in and out of opposite lanes.

The RCMP officer made a U-turn before following the vehicle down Highway 33.

“He saw the Mercury veer into oncoming lanes of traffic and activated his police lights in order to warn oncoming drivers of the potential hazard,”says Wyatt.

The officer lost sight of the vehicle when it crashed as a large cloud of dust formed.

“As the vehicle was spinning, he said he saw several masses, some bigger than others, fly out of the vehicle,” explains Wyatt, adding that the officer called for numerous ambulances after witnessing three people on the ground near the accident scene.

The officer then saw a man exit the vehicle and stumble into a ditch. That man was Hennessy.

After determining that he was prohibited from operating a vehicle, RCMP detained Hennessy. Despite being injured, he attempted to flee the scene before being arrested.

The female who owned the Mercury testified earlier in the trial that she was in the passenger side at the time of the crash and that Hennessy was the one driving.

The woman was asleep in the moments leading up to the crash but she says she woke up when someone said they were being chased by police. The woman remembers seeing police lights and hearing someone say ‘meridian,’ before waking up seriously injured on the sidewalk.

Hennessy pleaded not-guilty and maintained that he was not the one driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Hennessy claimed he was sitting in the backseat of the car behind the driver and that he wasn’t aware of who was driving at the time of the accident. He says he woke up after the crash in a ditch and doesn’t know how he got there.

“He said he does not recall how he got to the side of the road. He says he received a head injury from the accident and that this, combined with many years of drug use has affected his memory,” says Wyatt.

Based on all the evidence, photos and the testimonies of RCMP officers who saw Hennessy exit the vehicle after the crash, Wyatt told the courtroom on Monday, “The Crown has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. I have no doubt that Travis Hennessy was the driver of the Mercury on June, 20, 2018, that he drove that vehicle dangerously and that as a result, Lenard Haines died,” adding that the other two passengers were seriously injured as a result of Hennessy’s actions.

Sentencing will take place at a later date.

ORIGINAL 2:55 p.m.

A man has been convicted on all counts related to a fatal high-speed crash in Kelowna in 2018.

A judge found Travis Hennessy, 29, guilty Monday of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. The verdict comes after a three-week trial.

A sentencing hearing will take place at a later date.

Hennessy was driving a car when it crashed into a cement wall near Gerstmar Road at approximately 3 a.m. on June 20, 2018. Police estimated the vehicle had been travelling at 150 km/h.

The crash resulted in three passengers being ejected from the car, Hennessy was the only one who was not ejected. All were taken to hospital with serious injuries but one passenger succumbed to their injuries.

Shortly after the incident, a memorial was set up at the crash site for the fatal victim, Lenard Aleron Haines.

Hennessy is from Prince George and he has a lengthy criminal record. He was sentenced to a year in jail after a 2019 crime spree throughout Kamloops, Quesnel, Penticton, Prince George and Vernon.

More to come...

Photo: File photo

The 2018 Highway 33 crash left one person dead.