Chrystle Kemp sentenced over deadly Shepparton East collision that killed Savannah Kemp

A Shepparton nurse has avoided jail after a horrific three-way pileup which killed her niece and a 34-week old unborn baby.

A Shepparton nurse who killed her niece and seriously injured a heavily pregnant mother in a horrific collision has avoided jail.

Chrystle Olivia Kemp, 27, was sentenced in the Shepparton County Court afer she pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing serious injury following a horror three-way pileup at Shepparton East.

The horrific collision killed her niece, 5-year-old Savannah Kemp, while seriously injuring Elodie Aldridge, who was pregnant with 34-week old Remi Aldridge.

Remi was a stillborn following the collision.

On October 20 last year, Kemp picked up her niece Savannah from kindergarten before heading down Old Dookie Rd.

Kemp had planned to take photos of Savannah at the nearby town of Dookie.

Chrystle Kemp picked her niece Savannah Kemp up from kindergarten just before the horror collision. Picture: Supplied

It was her first time driving in 10 months after living interstate but having lived in the area previously, the roads were familiar.

On Boundary Rd, Ms Aldridge was driving home from a midwifery appointment in Wangaratta, having been told her baby was healthy inside the womb and could be born at any time.

Nathan Frizzell and Dylan Hoare were heading north along the same road in a white LandCruiser.

Minutes later, Kemp missed “clearly visible” warnings stop signs about 180m from the Boundary Rd intersection, ploughing into the two other cars at 81km/h.

Savannah — not strapped into her booster seat but instead just sitting in the back seat — died at the scene.

Ms Aldridge was trapped in her Ford Territory for an hour before being flown to The Alfred in a serious condition.

Chrystle Kemp missed a crucial stop sign which led to the death of her niece and 34-week-old stillborn Remi Aldridge.

A year on, she’s been booked in for a hip replacement as a result of the collision.

Mr Frizzell and Mr Hoare were not injured in the collision.

Defence lawyer Paul Smallwood told the court Kemp had great support around her “in regards to her ongoing medical conditions”.

Mr Smallwood told the court that his client should not receive a custodial sentence due to the combination of her physical and mental injuries, which include chronic physical pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, as well as the grief and remorse she had shown since the incident.

Prosecutor Phillip Teo told the court she should be jailed as Kemp’s moral culpability was heightened when she ignored the legal requirement of putting Savannah into her booster seat.

Anyone under the age of seven must be placed into a booster seat, the court heard.

Judge Geoffrey Chettle said there was no evidence that Savannah would have survived even if she was placed in the booster seat.

Savannah Kemp with her mother Bryana Kemp.

Judge Chettle said Kemp “should have seen the stop signs, but did not”.

Judge Chettle said far reaching loss and pain for so many people was “indescribable”.

The intersection was poorly signed and did not have rumble strips at the time of the collision, the court heard.

Large red signs have been erected to warn drivers to reduce speed in the aftermath of the collision.

The court heard Kemp suffered a myriad of health issues throughout her life including Crohn’s disease, which she still suffers from.

Kemp, whose nursing licence was suspended by APRA when she was charged, was also bullied at school, the court heard.

Ms Aldridge was visibly distraught as Judge Chettle delivered his sentencing, consoled by her husband Andrew Aldridge.

At the first part of the plea on November 6, the Aldridge’s called on the state government to change the laws regarding recognising unborn babies in court.

If Remi was recognised under Victorian law, like in NSW, Kemp would have faced another dangerous driving causing death charge.

“My son, in the eyes of the law, is basically nothing,” Ms Aldridge said.

At the earlier plea, Savannah’s mother Bryana Kemp –— who now suffered from depression and had suicidal thoughts — had her victim impact statement read to the court.

She said she wished she could trade places with the five-year-old.

“I miss Savannah so much — if I did not have my three sons I would have taken my own life,” the statement read.

Savannah loved the idea of getting married and having children and wearing a white wedding gown, but “instead she was cremated in a white dress”, the statement read.

Judge Chettle told the court Bryana Kemp was a “shell of her former self” who was plagued by flashbacks and “tortured by thoughts” of Savannah.
Judge Chettle told the court Bryana and Chrystle Kemp’s relationship has suffered as a result of the collision.

A statement read to the court said that Kemp did not blame Bryana for hating her and said she hated herself.

The scene of the collision at Shepparton East on October 20, 2023. Picture: Oscar Jaeger

Judge Chettle said Kemp’s case was a rare and exceptional case to meet the threshold of avoiding jail for dangerous driving causing death and noted her pain and suffering as a result of the collision.

“You have already been severely punished for your crimes,” he said.

Kemp, who limped into the courtroom on crutches, was sentenced to a two year community corrections order (CCO), once she is assessed for the CCO.

She will have to perform 250 hours of unpaid community work and will undergo programs to reduce reoffending, such as a road trauma course.

Judge Chettle said Kemp had excellent prospects of rehabilitation.

Kemp will be assessed on her suitability for a CCO at 2pm tomorrow.