Cambridge man who killed mother of his kids in crash gets day parole

Despite pleas by the victim's family to keep him behind bars, a Cambridge man who killed the mother of their two young children in a drunken crash in 2020 has been granted day parole, 14 months after being sentenced.

Kyle Byrne will live in a halfway house for six months, the Parole Board of Canada said in a ruling on Wednesday.

Byrne, now 30, had more than twice the legal amount of alcohol in his blood when his speeding car crashed into a tree on Branchton Road in North Dumfries, just south of Cambridge. The car broke apart and caught fire.

The lone passenger, Karli Chomick, 28, of Kitchener was wearing a seatbelt but was ejected into a field and died instantly.

In November 2021, Byrne pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and was sentenced to five years in prison and handed a 13-year driving ban.

Chomick's family members implored the parole board to keep him in prison.

Her mother, Dani Hughes, told board members at Wednesday's hearing that she almost choked" when the Crown told her it would be seeking five years in prison.

Five years? This is all her life is worth, a measly five years?" she said. Had she died from a gun, knife, fist or bare hands, his time would have been so much more."

Hughes said never in our wildest nightmare" did family members think Byrne could be released from prison so soon after killing Chomick, her only child.

The system has failed this family in so many ways, failed Karli, failed Karli's children, failed Karli's family," Hughes said. Board members, I beg of you not to fail us again. Please keep this individual incarcerated for as long as possible."

Other family members also opposed day parole.

Byrne and Chomick had been at a bonfire at his mother's house on the night of May 24, 2020. The crash, which happened shortly after they left, tore apart Byrne's Subaru Impreza

The force of the collision was so strong that the driver's compartment and front right passenger's compartment broke free from the engine bay and frame and separated into different directions," Crown prosecutor Michael Michaud said when Byrne was sentenced.

Chomick's family members told the parole board Byrne never said he was sorry. He did on Wednesday.

I want to apologize for my actions," he said. They were selfish, they were wrong. I am remorseful. Karli's life was taken. Every day I wish it was mine. I am 100 per cent to blame."

Chomick's family members said Byrne initially alleged she was driving that night. At the parole board hearing, he said he does not remember saying that.

I don't recall anything of that evening," he said.

Byrne said he has memory problems caused by the crash. He suffered a brain injury, broken leg and perforated bowel.

Byrne told the parole board he has been doing all the right things in prison, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and staying out of trouble. He said he may have got behind the wheel that night on an impulse. He said he is no longer impulsive.

The board said it hopes Byrne, who has no prior criminal record, continues down a path toward rehabilitation. It ordered him to follow a substance abuse treatment plan and meet with a mental health professional to address grief, loss and impulsivity. He can't drink alcohol.

Byrne and Chomick had been in a common-law relationship for 10 years. They were separated at the time but were co-parenting their children, four and eight years old.

Chomick's mother said the crash will forever torment her.

I lie awake every single night staring at the ceiling, my mind transported to that awful night," she told the parole board. I picture her in that car speeding down the road. ... I wonder if she knew she was going to die.

I can only imagine how terrified she must have been, how distraught that she may not see her kids again. I see the car exploding into the tree. I see my child crashing through the glass, her tiny body thrown into the field.

They promised me she died instantly. As if that is any consolation."

Gordon Paul is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on crime for The Record. Reach him via email: gpaul@therecord.com