Sask. woman gets six years for fatal Highway 11 drinking and driving crash

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In a matter of seconds on a Saskatchewan highway, Reanne Hannah lost her entire immediate family.

Her sister Jamie Hannah, 20, and mom Laura Hannah, 53, were her “entire life” after her father died in 2016.

On Oct. 19, 2024, a Saturday night, Brittany Dawn Barry put her two young children in her black Chevy Avalanche truck and turned into oncoming traffic on Highway 11 from Dundurn, crashing head-on into a red Mazda CX-3.

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It happened at 9:45 p.m. Just before midnight, Barry’s blood-alcohol reading was .210 — nearly three times the legal limit.

Laura and Jamie were instantly killed. The pair from Lake Isle, Alberta were driving to a funeral in Moose Jaw.

“You made a choice that has ripped my entire life apart,” Reanne told Barry as a Saskatoon provincial courtroom heard the far-reaching trauma caused by drinking and driving.

“Hundreds of people were affected. People were broken, angry, hurting. We couldn’t believe the news,” Laura’s sister, Karen Seinen, said.

In January, Barry, 33, initially pleaded guilty to two counts each of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Court heard her three-year-old child had a fractured vertebra, while her eight-year-old was airlifted to hospital with a broken femur.

Barry entered new pleas at the start of her sentencing hearing on Friday to one count each of driving with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit causing death and bodily harm.

Defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said she changed her plea so that the victims’ family members can access insurance compensation.

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The Crown and defence jointly proposed a six-year sentence, which Judge Bruce Bauer accepted. Barry is also prohibited from driving for seven years after her release from prison.

She knew how much alcohol she drank before she got in her truck, yet she still chose to drive her and her children onto a highway, Bauer noted, calling it an “enormous, unimaginable mistake.”

Barry’s husband was allowed to sit beside her in the prisoner’s box as Crown prosecutor Andrew Clements read an agreed statement of facts.

A collision reconstruction report detailed how Barry’s truck turned left off Highway 211 and entered the southbound lanes of Highway 11, travelling north toward Saskatoon.

Highway 211 connects the communities of Shields and Thode, near Blackstrap Lake, to Dundurn, and intersects with Highway 11.

“This is not an unfamiliar area to (Barry) either; she lived in that area,” Clements later said.

“The accused would have passed signage that indicated do not enter and one-way travel to northwest bound traffic on the southeast bound road surface,” the report stated.

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Barry was driving 75 km/hr, while the victims’ car had slowed to 87 km/hr, right before impact.

“I didn’t drink that much,” Barry told officers at the crash scene.

The agreed facts state there was alcohol on her breath and a nearly-empty bottle of red wine in the back seat.

A witness who saw Barry turning into the wrong lanes said her truck was initially heading directly toward his vehicle in the east-side lane. The driver said he swerved out of the way and into the centre median. Barry narrowly missed his vehicle, hitting the victims’ vehicle behind him.

A framed photo of Laura and Jamie was set up across from Barry in the courtroom as 17 victim impact statements were read.

Relatives and friends came from afar to attend the hearing. Two courtrooms were needed, and many attended virtually.

They wore shirts and hoodies with the phrase “Coffee and Gratitude” on the front — something Laura shared with her daughters for years, and had started sharing on social media, Seinen said outside court.

In court, Reanne detailed the life events her mom and sister will miss — first houses, trips, marriage, kids, grandkids. 

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“You killed two beautiful ladies and injured your young children. You embarrassed your community,” Laura’s friend, Leslie Toovey, said.

“How would you be feeling if you had actually killed your children? I think the only feeling you have right now is ‘damn, I got caught’. ”

Barry has no prior criminal or driving record, court heard. Her lawyer, Brian Pfefferle, said her blood-alcohol reading was inconsistent with the lack of impairment observed by an on-scene officer.

Barry admitted to drinking and failed the roadside test, but there were issues with some of the subsequent readings, he said. Pfefferle told court she still wanted to plead guilty to the higher charge.

People in the gallery watched in silence as Barry, who was out of custody, left in handcuffs.

She wrote a letter to the court, which Judge Bauer read on her behalf.

“I would like you, the family and friends of Laura and Jamie, to know that I was not prepared to make excuses for my mistakes, even when there were apparently several technical arguments I could make.

“I did not feel it was right to possibly be found not guilty of something when I am 100 per cent the cause of this accident.

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“I have read many letters where (the victims’ family) have conveyed forgiveness, prayers and concern for me and my children. I do not feel I deserve this treatment, but I am grateful for it.”

“I have sympathy for you,” Reanne told Barry. “I understand that you are human, as all of us are. I don’t know you or understand what you are going through right now, and I’m sure this is hard for you.

“I can’t tell you that I forgive you, but I hope to someday.”

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