A 45-year-old Surrey driver has pleaded guilty and will serve two years in jail for the hit-and-run death of a Maple Ridge veterinarian assistant back in 2018, the community’s top cop sharing news of this week’s court proceedings.
Michael Howard Thomas was in provincial court on Wednesday, Sept. 9, where he was sentenced to two years less a day in prison, plus given three years probation, and prohibited from driving for five years – upon his release – all this after accepting responsibility for the fatal pedestrian crash.
Tassis Vix, a 32-year-old mother of a now 12-year-old girl, was walking in the 21800-block of Lougheed Highway just before 10 p.m. on April 12, 2018, explained Ridge Meadows RCMP spokesperson Const. Julie Klaussner.
She was struck and killed nears Carshill Street – not far from her home – walking to the store.
RELATED: Mother identified as pedestrian killed in hit-and-run on Lougheed Highway in Maple Ridge
The driver fled the scene, but more than a year later, police arrested and charged Thomas with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, and failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death.
“Investigators worked tirelessly in a 14-month-long investigation culminating in Surrey resident Mr. Micheal Howard Thomas being charged on July 19, 2019,” Klaussner said.
RELATED: Man charged in 2018 hit-and-run in Maple Ridge
Near the time of her death, she was remembered by several as a kind and nice person, and a huge animal lover.
“This incident touched and emotionally impacted the first responders and the community as a whole causing an overwhelming response from the public,” said Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. Jennifer Hyland.
“For this reason we feel it pertinent to share with the community the results of these court proceedings. Nothing is going to bring Tassis back, her mother has lost a daughter, her brother has lost a sister, and her daughter will grow up without a mother,” Hyland said.
“Our heartfelt wishes are for some closure for this family and the inexplicable loss.”
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