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One word used in a Regina courtroom to describe the July 31, 2025 crash that took the life of a child was “accident.”

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Still, 19-year-old Connor Douglas has been sent to prison on a three-year sentence.

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That’s because it wasn’t an accident that Douglas, then under the legal drinking age in Saskatchewan, sought out and obtained alcohol.

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It wasn’t an accident that he consumed the alcohol.

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And it wasn’t an accident that he got behind the wheel of the vehicle in which a boy — barely old enough to be labelled a teen — rode as a passenger.

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When Regina police arrived at the scene on 6th Avenue North and Smith Street, shortly after being dispatched at 5:36 a.m., they found a vehicle on its side. The police later stated in a news release that the vehicle appeared to have rolled after striking a power pole.

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Debris was scattered along the roadway.

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A 13-year-old boy was lying on his back.

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As Crown prosecutor Derek Davidson read the facts into the record Wednesday in Regina provincial court, he paused before describing the severe injury sustained by the boy. He chose words that sought to balance sensitivity with accuracy, as the child’s father sat behind him in the gallery.

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Douglas told police he was the one driving. He also told them he’d smoked marijuana earlier in the evening, court heard. He was detained, spoke to a lawyer and then provided breath samples.

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Both samples registered well over the criminal legal limit for blood alcohol concentration.

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The three-year sentence was jointly submitted by Crown and defence, and accepted by Judge James Korpan after Douglas entered a guilty plea.

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Davidson sought to impart the seriousness of the crime in his submissions, suggesting denunciation of the act and deterrence of others from committing similar wrongs were paramount as sentencing objectives.

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Davidson, whose role has sadly seen him make similar submissions in similar cases, pointed at legislative changes and increased sentences which did not stop Douglas from driving drunk.

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“These offences still continue to happen, still continue to damage families,” the prosecutor said.

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“This is a life taken far too early. Senselessly.”

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Defence lawyer Estes Fonkalsrud indicated his instruction was always to find a way to resolve the matter for Douglas to accept responsibility.

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Fonkalsrud told the judge his client has completed addictions courses and sees a counsellor, in addition to volunteering.

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He added that Douglas has been sober since the incident.

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“He realized that alcohol can obviously, when driving, have devastating consequences,” said the defence lawyer.