A West Australian woman who was distracted by her GPS when her car crashed into a ute at an intersection, killing her 10-year-old daughter and her seven-year-old step-son, has narrowly escaped a jail term.
Stacey Leigh Cunningham, 35, was charged with careless driving causing death after her Mazda sedan crashed into a Ford F250 ute on June 1, 2020, killing Harmonie Cunningham and Nate Stewart.
Geraldton crash victims Harmonie Cunningham, 10 and Nate Stewart, 7.Credit: GoFundMe
Cunningham’s friend Cameron Byfield was also seriously injured in the crash.
As she delivered her verdict on Wednesday, Magistrate Sandra De Maio told Cunningham she was a good person who made a “horrible mistake”.
“I know you are deeply affected by what happened,” she said.
“And I want to stress that you’re a good person. I don’t want you to think you’re a bad person.”
De Maio disagreed with both the prosecutor and Cunningham’s lawyer, however, that her culpability was low, saying her distraction “cannot be looked on as momentary”.
She delivered her reserved verdict on Wednesday after a trial last year, determining Cunningham was distracted by her GPS on the day of the crash, as she was lost and trying to find her way to Pioneer Village.
“It was more than just a glance,” De Maio said.
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