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A woman has been handed an 18-month conditional sentence for dangerous driving causing death in an incident in Truro, N.S., two years ago where a man was dragged underneath her vehicle after he had jumped on the hood following a dispute.
Judge Brian Warcop sentenced Rishonda Beals, 27, on Friday, agreeing to a joint recommendation submitted last month by defence and prosecution lawyers following her guilty plea in December in the death of John MacDonell.
“Miss Beals, you took Mr. MacDonell’s life that day needlessly,” Warcop said in provincial court in Truro. “You robbed his family and our community of him. That cannot be undone. You do, and should, feel shame for your actions.
“But you are more than the horrible decision you made that day and the consequences today.”
The conditional sentence includes six months of house arrest, then six months of curfew, followed by another six months under various conditions. Beals will be on probation for 18 months following the conditional sentence.
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MacDonell, 40, was killed on June 28, 2024. In an agreed statement of facts read in court late last year, Beals admitted she fled the scene and falsely reported to Truro police that her vehicle had been stolen.
The pair knew each other and were at his home. The court was told there was a dispute over money, and Beals left around 1 a.m. and got into her Hyundai Sonata. MacDonell was intoxicated, swore, threatened to damage her car and tried to open the door, according to the facts.
He jumped on the hood. The agreed facts indicated that Beals, who was afraid, drove off slowly and intended to brake to get him off, but instead hit the gas and crashed into a parked Mazda, setting off the airbags in her car.
Beals then drove off, without seeking to find out what had happened to MacDonell. The agreed facts said she didn’t know he was entangled under the car. He was dragged for 150 metres.
The next morning, Beals reported her vehicle stolen. Officers had found the Sonata on another street less than two hours after the incident. Police investigated for six months before Beals was arrested and charged.
‘Devastating, permanent and life-altering’
In handing down sentence, Warcop noted the victim impact statements from MacDonell’s family members. They described him as having a smile that could light up a room, a man who had sometimes struggled but who was looking toward an “amazing future.”
“The family describes the loss of John as devastating, permanent and life-altering,” the judge said.
Beals, who is from Dartmouth, N.S., has no criminal record, and the judge found she has strong prospects for rehabilitation and that her “actions reflect a brief lapse of judgment.” She is the mother of an infant daughter.
An impact of race and culture assessment report was prepared for Beals, who is African Nova Scotian. Warcop said it’s clear Beals has “extreme remorse for her actions and she has fully, unequivocally accepted responsibility.”
The judge said the report outlines that she indicated she feared police involvement “due to mistrust rooted in experience of systemic anti-Black racism.”
According to the judge, she said she didn’t know MacDonell was trapped and believed she was fleeing danger, telling the report author: “If I knew that John was under my car, I would have stopped and gotten help. He didn’t deserve to die like that. Nobody does.”
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