A man charged in relation to a 2014 fatal hit-and-run in Abbotsford has
been sentenced to a three-year jail term to be followed by a one-year driving ban.
Mario Richard Delellis, 46, was recently sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on one count of dangerous driving causing death and one count of leaving the scene of an accident.
He was convicted of the offences following a jury trial.
Dwayne McCormick, 41, died on July 13, 2014, two days after being struck by a vehicle being driven by Delellis in the 2200 block of McKenzie Road.
Police were called to the scene, where they found McCormick suffering from severe injuries.
Delellis was initially charged with aggravated assault, failing to remain at the scene of an accident, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Police said at the time that Delellis and McCormick knew each other and that the incident took place near the victim’s residence following an argument.
Following McCormick’s death, the charges against Delellis were stayed, and the case was handed over to the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).
But IHIT later transferred the case back to the Abbotsford Police Department because “a decision was made that it didn’t fit the criteria of an IHIT investigation.”
The file was reviewed by the APD and Crown counsel then approved new charges.
Delellis claimed at trial that he had acted in self-defence and that he accidentally struck McCormick with his vehicle, but the judge determined in his sentencing ruling that the act was deliberate.