Family and friends of two Alberta residents who were killed in a 2025 crash in Leduc County were moved to tears Thursday, as the woman behind the collision pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing their deaths.
Loved ones of Kean Konchinew and Shirley Konchenew drove from across Alberta and Saskatchewan, seeking justice in a Leduc courtroom on Thursday.
“When I look at the pictures, I start crying,” Shirley’s husband Lawrence said.
“It’s so awful to live without a wife, to live without a son.”
Thirty-nine-year-old Amy Patricia Krautt used a walker as she entered the courtroom before pleading guilty to two counts of impaired driving causing death.
Court heard that on April 2, 2025, Kean and Shirley’s vehicle was hit head-on by a SUV near Highway 21 and Township Road 502 in Leduc County.
Police said Kean was living in Camrose with his mother, who was helping to raise his four children.
“My four little girls, they’re fatherless every day,” Lawrence Konchenew said. “They can’t even celebrate Father’s Day anymore.”
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Shirley and Lawrence had been married for 53 years.
Court heard Krautt’s blood was drawn in hospital five hours after the crash.
A forensic specialist found she had between 329 and 381 milligrams of ethyl alcohol in 100 mm of blood — more than four times the legal limit.
Krautt was also severely injured in the crash, with court hearing her foot was almost severed and she was left with brain damage.
“Those are self-inflicted,” said Kellie Konchinew, daughter of Shirley, and Kean’s sister. “You got behind the car, you got behind the wheel… you chose.”
Krautt was also caught using her phone while driving — and had been drinking — in 2019. She pleaded guilty to common nuisance charges in that instance.
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Crosses still lay along Highway 21 where the Konchinew’s lives were cut short.
“She still had a lot to teach us and pass down,” explained Shirley’s daughter, Krystal. “I’ll never get to learn.
“He was like the sun. Everyone wanted to be around him,” Kean’s sister Constance said. “He was always really positive.”
A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.