Nearly a year and a half after a woman was struck by a car and killed while walking her great-granddaughter to school – the trial for the woman behind the wheel continued, and a local MLA took the stand.

Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk appeared in court Thursday, to testify at the trial of Jocelyn Kelly, 41, who was charged under the Traffic Safety Act with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

The charges were laid in connection to the April 7, 2011 collision that took the life of 66-year-old Bernice Jingling.

That morning, Jingling had been walking her great granddaughter to school, and was at the intersection of 122 Avenue and 128 Street at the time.

“I’m here in the capacity of being a citizen, and witnessed something the courts are interested in,” Lukaszuk said after his appearance.

In his testimony, Lukaszuk said he was driving eastbound, when he saw a vehicle one car ahead of his go through that intersection.

At the same time, he said he saw a woman and a child were crossing the road.

He said he saw the woman push the child further into the intersection – and he pulled over to help, because he suspected someone had been hit.

Lukaszuk said the child was screaming, but otherwise alert – but the woman, later identified as Jingling, lay on the road, unconscious and bleeding.

She succumbed to her injuries later.

“It impacted me, it’s tragic,” Lukaszuk said. “I’d be lying…if I told you that it doesn’t affect you.

“It still crosses my mind once in a while.”

The accused also testified Thursday – through tears, Kelly said she had just dropped her child off at school, and was driving her car slowly east on 122 Avenue.

Kelly said the sun was bright that morning, and as she entered the intersection, the light momentarily blinded her.

On the stand, she showed the courtroom how she lifted her left hand in front of her to shield her eyes – at the same time she heard a ‘thump’.

She testified that she exclaimed out loud ‘Oh my God, I think I hit someone’.

The defence has asked the judge to find Kelly not liable.

A written decision is expected by mid-October.

With files from Susan Amerongen