POLICE – Charges laid against 40-year-old suspect in hit-run death of Kamloops teen Jenn Gatey

Charges have been laid against a 40-year-old man four months after the death of Kamloops resident Jenn Gatey in a hit-and-run.

RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller told a late-morning media conference today (Monday, March 6) that Jason Charles Gourley was arrested Friday and will appear in court Tuesday charged with leaving the scene as well as possession of heroin, the latter resulting from a search warrant executed three days after the accident.

Gatey was struck while waiting at a bus stop at Pacific Way and Abbeyglen Way a short distance from her home Nov. 4. She would have turned 17 the following day.

Police immediately scoured the area, going door-to-door in hopes of getting clues to who was responsible, and came up with a fuzzy home-surveillance video of what appeared to be a passing SUV on a nearby street.

They later confiscated a dark-colour Jeep from a driveway in Dufferin and held it for forensic assessment. Mueller said today “significant physical evidence” taken from the Jeep “took us to the point where we are at today.”

Weather is not believed to have been a factor in the accident, he said.

“This case was considered a priority investigation from the day it was reported,” Mueller said, adding that dozens of people were interviewed, leading to the collection of evidence and the eventual charges.

He emphasized the care that had to be taken in the investigation despite frustration on the part of the public with the length of time it was taking. Investigators never lost sight of making the case a priority, and have kept Jenn Gatey’s family fully informed about the status of the investigation, he said.

Mueller expressed appreciation to the family for its support, and praised Serious Crime Unit investigators for their diligence.