An area man is serving prison time for killing a woman while driving drunk.
James Novosel, 38, admitted to impaired driving that caused the death of Rhonda Lynn Moyah, 47, and injuries to her 9-year-old daughter after a collision in mid-September of last year.
Around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, Morinville RCMP and emergency services were called to a fatal head-on collision on Highway 28 at the Sturgeon Road Intersection. According to a statement of facts, several 911 calls had come in that night to report Novosel's Ford F-150 driving erratically from Anthony Henday Drive in Edmonton onto Highway 28. He carried on driving erratically for 15 kilometres uninterrupted.
Before the head-on collision, Novosel's truck was travelling north in the southbound lane of Highway 28 at approximately 140 km/hr when approaching the intersection, twice the area's limit of 70 km/hr.
Minutes after emergency services arrived, Moyah was declared dead; her daughter was transported to Stollery Children's Hospital with numerous injuries, including fractured pelvic and clavicular bones, bruising to her lungs, skull, and an injury to her brain.
Friends and family described Moyah, a mother of two and grandmother of two, as a remarkably kind soul who always looked out for others. She was a youth crisis worker working to become an addictions counsellor. Many, including her uncle, Ken Thomas, said she was an incredibly forgiving person who would have encouraged others to be forgiving.
Police found two large empty bottles of vodka (60 and 20 oz.) in Novosel's truck. Later testing would discover that his blood alcohol content was more than five times the legal limit. He also had a previous impaired driving conviction from 2007.
Speaking in court on Friday (Jun. 24), Novosel acknowledged that he struggles with alcoholism and sounded remorseful when addressing Moyah’s family.
"Please know how sorry I am – I cannot find words to convey my sorrow. This nightmare I've caused, I can't imagine the heartbreak. Rhonda is irreplaceable."
Novosel will serve five years in prison for both charges concurrently with credit for time already served. In addition, Novosel will face a 10-year driving prohibition on his release date.