Deepak Sharma, 33, handed four-year prison sentence for criminal negligence causing death of university student Alexandria WortmanPublished Sep 22, 2025Last updated 5 hours ago7 minute readAlexandria Wortman, a student at Dalhousie University, died Jan. 27, 2025, at age 21 after she was struck by a speeding car in a Halifax crosswalk.Article contentJames Wortman says his life didn’t truly begin until 2003, when his first child, Alexandria, was born.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle content“I did not know much back then, but I knew two things for sure,” Wortman, whose daughter died last January at age 21 after she was struck by a speeding car in a Halifax crosswalk, said Monday in a victim impact statement at a sentencing hearing for the driver. “Love at first sight was indeed real, and . . . I was put on this earth to be a father and parent.Article contentArticle contentArticle content“The following 21 years were the happiest and most satisfying times of my life. Being a father to Alex and her brother Jay gave my life meaning, purpose and the greatest joy imaginable.”Article contentHe said Alex was generous, intelligent, independent, curious, compassionate and headstrong from the time she learned to walk and talk.Article content“As I watched Alex grow from a precocious child to a strong, intelligent, generous, beautiful young woman, I could not have been more proud,” Wortman said. “People often asked the secret to raising such great kids, and I only wish I could take credit. . . . If anything, Alex taught me as much as I ever taught her. I know I am a more tolerant, accepting, decent, caring and open-minded man for having known her.Article content“My life was effectively ended Jan. 27, 2025, when my beloved Alex was unexpectedly, brutally and violently torn away from this world. So much of my identity had been defined by being a father to Alex and Jay, I feel that half of my life’s purpose died with Alex.”Article contentArticle content James and Sue Wortman, whose daughter Alexandria died after she was struck by a speeding car in a crosswalk on Jubilee Road in Halifax last Jan. 27, leave provincial court Monday after the driver’s sentencing hearing. Photo by Ryan Taplin /The Chronicle HeraldArticle contentThe Riverview, N.B., man said he can’t put into words the loss and despair that comes with losing a child “too soon.”Article content“I am a shell of my former self,” Wortman said. “Any sense of well-being, self-worth, happiness or joy has been destroyed, and I suspect it will be that way for the rest of my life.Article content“I don’t mourn for the memories. I am eternally grateful for the 21 years I was able to have Alex in my life. I mourn for the future, the possibilities, the untapped potential. She had so much more to offer the world, offer her family and friends, offer me — so much that will never be realized.Article content“Rest in peace, my darling Alex. Rest in power.”Article contentAlex, a student at Dalhousie University, was crossing Jubilee Road at the intersection of Vernon Street at about 5:45 p.m. when a black Honda Civic driven by Deepak Sharma blew through the four-way stop at a speed of 126 km/h.Article contentSharma had rear-ended a vehicle on Jubilee Road moments earlier before fleeing at a high speed in a 50-km/h zone.Article contentAfter hitting the young woman, he drove three more blocks on Jubilee Road with the victim on his windshield before colliding with another vehicle near Robie Street.Article contentThe Civic came to a rest after that third collision, and Alex fell from the windshield to the ground.Article contentAlex suffered multiple blunt-force injuries to her head, neck, torso and extremities. Efforts to resuscitate her continued as she was transported to the nearby Halifax Infirmary but were unsuccessful.Article contentSharma, 33, pleaded guilty in Halifax provincial court in July to three charges from the chain of events: failing to stop at the scene of the first collision, failing to stop at an accident that resulted in death, and criminal negligence causing death.Article content Deepak Sharma leaves Halifax provincial court Monday during a break at his sentencing hearing. Sharma received a four-year prison sentence for criminal negligence causing the death of Alexandria Wortman, a 21-year-old university student who was struck by his speeding car in a crosswalk last Jan. 27. Photo by Ryan Taplin /The Chronicle HeraldArticle contentOn Monday, Judge Christine Driscoll accepted a joint recommendation from lawyers for a four-year prison sentence and a 10-year driving prohibition. She also ordered the Halifax man to provide a DNA sample for a national databank and have no contact with the Wortmans while he’s incarcerated.Article contentArticle contentSharma, who was a sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy at the time of the incident, was also charged with dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death and manslaughter. Those charges were withdrawn after he was sentenced.Article contentHalifax Regional Police charged Sharma with impaired driving based on his strange behaviour at the scene.Article contentCivilians attempted to provide aid to both Sharma and Alex, but he yelled at them, saying “Get your hands off her,” “Get the f— back in the car” and “I’ll kill you.”Article contentSharma also charged at one of the civilians, an agreed statement of facts says.Article contentTwo constables arrived at the scene of the third collision almost immediately, at about 5:50 p.m., and found Sharma yelling and doing pushups. When one of the officers tried to speak with Sharma, he pushed him away and ran toward the Veterans Memorial Building.Article contentArticle content“Mr. Sharma was apprehended and placed under arrest,” the statement says. “He appeared disoriented, would break into giggles, and then start talking. Mr. Sharma was physically combative with police officers and resisted arrest.”Article contentA toxicology report did not detect any alcohol or drugs in Sharma’s system.Article contentDefence lawyer James Giacomantonio said his client has suffered from mental heath issues over the past few years. He said Sharma had a “poor recollection” of the fatal collision but was accepting full responsibility and was remorseful for his actions.Article contentSharma has three Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Act convictions: one in March 2023 for racing or stunting on a highway, and two in November 2024, for driving more than 31 km/h over the speed limit and failing to display a licence plate. He also received two speeding tickets in New Brunswick in 2018.Article content“Nothing I can say changes .. the devastating impact of what I did,” Sharma told the court Monday.Article contentHe said he had no explanation for his “sociopathic actions.”Article content“I’m sorry for the pain and suffering I’ve caused.”Article contentTwenty-five impact statements from Alex Wortman’s family and friends, including one from a woman who witnessed the collision, were submitted for the sentencing.Article contentSue Wortman, in her impact statement, said her daughter’s death was completely avoidable.Article content“She should still be here,” she said of Alex. “She had her whole life ahead of her – a future full of passion, potential and purposes. She had the soul of an activist and .. would have fought hard for those who have been wronged. Now I will carry that torch for her. I will spend the rest of my life advocating for change, fighting for tougher penalties and longer sentences for those who use vehicles as weapons.”Article contentArticle contentShe said her daughter understood the responsibility of driving.Article content“She was nervous about getting her licence because she knew that behind the wheel, you are responsible for the lives of others,” she said. “She believed that driving was a privilege, not a right, and that it required empathy, accountability and care. The very thing she feared was someone else being careless, with fatal consequences.”Article contentShe said nothing in life prepared her for losing a child.Article content“The pain is unbearable – constant, suffocating and life-altering,” she said. “It will take years of therapy, if not a lifetime, for me to learn how to carry this grief. Because this grief is not just sorrow. It is a wound that never heals, and I will bear it every single day for the rest of my life.”Article contentIn her sentencing decision, Driscoll said: “I did not know Alexandria Wortman, but clearly she was a gift to her parents, her brother, her family and friends. The victim impact statements give us an idea of who she was. They all show the considerable mark that she left on all who knew her.Article contentArticle content“In addition to that, they told the devastating impact of her death, the pain and suffering that no parents and siblings should have to experience.”Article contentThe judge said the ripple effect of Alex’s death on the community is immeasurableArticle content“But … we must not lose sight of her own loss – Alexandria Wortman’s loss for herself,” Driscoll said. “All of her plans and all of her gifts to this world are gone, all of the things that she wanted to be able to do.”Article contentShe said she hopes the four-year sentence will send a message of denunciation and deterrence to Sharma and assist with his rehabilitation and return to the community.Article content“I’m not completely clear what we’re rehabilitating,” the judge said, “but I would encourage him to seek professional help and try to identify whatever it is that led to this.”Article contentOutside court, Crown attorney Will Mathers said the sentence was at the higher end of the range for offences of this type in Nova Scotia.Article content“This was a senseless incident – senseless and entirely avoidable,” the prosecutor said.Article content“If there is a takeaway from this, I think we as a community need to stop treating driving as a right, not a privilege, particularly for people that have multiple speeding infractions and higher-level speeding infractions.”Article contentAsked if justice had been achieved with the four-year sentence, Mathers said the Crown’s goal was to get a speedy resolution that would allow the victim’s family to move forward and find whatever peace they can without having to endure a trial.Article content“I don’t think that any sentence, regardless of what it is, would actually bring peace, given what’s happened to that family,” he said.Article content
Young woman killed in Halifax car-pedestrian collision was ‘a gift’ to family and friends, judge says at driver’s sentencing
