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EDMONTON - A 30-year-old Bonnyville man faces 12 charges -- including manslaughter and impaired driving causing death -- in connection with a northern Alberta collision that killed four members of the same family last month.
RCMP were called around 11:45 p.m. July 23 to an accident on a section of Highway 657 east of Kehewin Cree Nations, about 20 km south of Bonnyville.
All four occupants of one vehicle -- Alexis Josephine Gadwa, 15, Sarah Margaret Gadwa, 14, their mother Frances (Stella) Yvonne Gadwa, 35, and her common-law husband, 51-year-old Ivan Charles Paul -- were killed.
They were on their way to the hospital in Bonnyville because one of the girls was sick, a relative said.
The male driver of the second vehicle was taken to Bonnyville hospital, then transferred to an Edmonton hospital.
It took police more than a month to lay charges in the crash because the investigation was so extensive, said RCMP Cpl. Darren Anderson.
"It was a challenging investigation," Anderson said.
"It was very serious. We had four lives that were lost. I can tell you that (investigators) were needing some lab results to get done.
"They did an extensive investigation into everything that occurred before the collision, the collision itself and the results from the lab."
Police believe both alcohol and drugs were factors in the crash.
After consulting with the chief crown prosecutor for the Bonnyville area, RCMP charged Clayton Tyler Procinski, 30, of Bonnyville with four counts of manslaughter, four counts of criminal negligence causing death, four counts of impaired driving causing death and driving over .08 causing death.
Procinski was arrested in Bonnyville on Friday and remains in custody.
After the crash, Paul's niece, Lindsay Amahoose, said the family left behind two other teenage daughters.
"They were all great people," Amahoose said.
"They worked hard and took care of their family. The two girls were fun-loving and energetic girls."
The crash was one of a string of fatal driving accidents around the province this summer.
At least 29 people were killed in collisions in Alberta in July.
Procinski is to appear in court in Bonnyville on Tuesday.
ALYSSA.NOEL@SUNMEDIA.CA