Devastated parents tell of B.C. girl's death

A B.C.judge has reserved his decision on the sentence for aDelta woman convicted ofrunning over a four-year-old girl after hearing victim impact statements from the child's parents.

Carol Berner was found guiltyon four charges at her trial in July in Surrey, including impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Alexa Middelaer later died and her aunt was seriously injured after Berner hit themwhile theywere feeding a horse at the side of a rural road more than two years ago.

"People need to realize we are broken [by this]," said the girl's mother, Laurel Middelaer. "It's as tough as it gets."

The girl's father, Michael Middelaer, expressed similar feelings.

"You don't heal from these things and I think we've accepted that," he said.

He said what he and his wife were feeling in the courtroom was no different from what they felt when in B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver,where Alexa died after she was hit by Berner's car.

All that remains to be heard in the case isprovincial court Judge Peder Gulbransen's decision, whichhe said would likelycomewithin a week.

Berner, 58,lost control of her car while driving ontheroad in Ladner, south of Vancouver, hitting Alexa Middelaer and her aunt, Daphne Johnson. Middelaer died after being taken to hospital, while Johnson spent a month in hospital with serious injuries.

At the trial,Gulbransen said Berner exercised poor judgment that day in May 2008 by driving on a road close to her home at a speed of about 90 km/h in a 50 km/h zone and ignoring speed bumps.

During the four-week trial,apolice officer who was involved in a three-month undercover operation testified that Berner told her that she drank three glasses of wine before the incident. Police secretly captured the confession on videotape.

A collision expert alsotestified during the trial that Berner didn't hit the brakes until a second before striking Middelaer and Johnson.