Mike on Crime

By Nick Martin
Winnipeg Free Press

A 34-year-old Fairford man faces a charge of dangerous driving causing death in the hit-and-run death Saturday night of 13-year-old Jamie Pruden of Gypsumville.

“An arrest was made (Sunday) at about 2 p.m.,” RCMP Cpl. Chris Ballard said today. “He made contact with Gypsumville detachment members, and made arrangements for them to pick him up.”

Ballard said that Glen George Anderson, 34, of Fairford, has been remanded in custody and will appear in court in Winnipeg Wednesday.

Anderson is charged with failing to stop, dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and driving while prohibited. Fairford is about eight kilometers from Gypsumville.

Heartbroken father Richard Pruden found his daughter lying dead in the road near their home Saturday night, after Jamie was hit from behind while walking home with three friends.

Pruden hugged his daughter Jamie desperately Saturday night, trying to will life back into his child.
But late Sunday afternoon, he walked a few hundred meters from his Gypsumville home on Little Saskatchewan First Nation to place a cross at the spot where 13-year-old Jamie Pruden died.

Three of her friends escaped with minor injuries after they were struck from behind by what RCMP suspect was a hit-and-run vehicle.

Gypsumville RCMP also say they have located a vehicle, and are continuing to investigate.

When the other girls came running to his house Saturday evening, Pruden said Sunday afternoon, “I took off right away. I found her, and covered her up with my jacket, keeping her warm.

“She was on her way home,” Pruden said, his voice breaking, his house filled with friends and relatives.

Pruden, who is separated, said Jamie had three sisters and two brothers.

“She was a good jokester, she could make people happy. She always had a smile,” he recalled. “She always liked to help people.”

“Sometimes, she said she would try for the RCMP” as a career. Jamie was in Grade 8 at Little Saskatchewan School.

Family friend Rose Shorting said the entire community is devastated. Gypsumville, a community of about 750 people, is 255 kilometers north of Winnipeg.

“The girls said it wasn’t even dark when it happened,” though there was a misty rain, said Shorting. There are no street lights where Jamie died, but the road is straight, she said.

“She was such a bubbly loving child,” Shorting said. “She always had such a big smile on her face.”

Jamie was a prankster who loved to make practical jokes to get people laughing, Shorting said.

“My husband (Chief Hector Shorting) is related to them. I’ve known Richard since he was nine years old,” she said.

“They were just walking, and they said this vehicle came real fast,” Shorting said. One girl tried to grab Jamie’s hand and yank her aside, but everything happened too fast, she said.

“There’s a member of the community making a cross, to put up where it happened,” she said.

RCMP from Gypsumville and the Winnipeg forensics unit are continuing to investigate. Pruden said he knows the man believed to have been driving the vehicle, but does not know him well.

Pruden did not know when Jamie’s funeral would be held.

“They took her to Winnipeg this morning for an autopsy — I don’t know when she’ll be back,” he said.