SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 20-year-old man was sentenced to six months and 16 days in prison for numerous charges last week, including two related to an evening of reckless driving and vehicle theft that culminated in the death of a 17-year-old girl.

The mother of the dead girl says she can now close the book on one chapter of that tragedy.

"That part of it is over, and now I can start to heal," Colleen McClean told reporters outside the Yellowknife courthouse after territorial court Judge Christine Gagnon handed Akeeshoo Papatsie, 20, his sentence.

"It's still pretty hard … every day she's in my heart," McClean said of her daughter, Ashley McClean.

Ashley and a male friend met up with Papatsie on the evening of July 22, 2009. They all drank alcohol together and then found a City of Yellowknife pickup truck parked outside the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool, which they stole and drove down the Ingraham Trail for a joyride with Papatsie behind the wheel. He did not have a driver's licence.

"What started as a joyride quickly became a nightmare," said Gagnon, as she recounted the events of that night.

Papatsie, who was drunk, swerved from lane to lane, and reached speeds of 130 km/h before crashing the truck into a cement barrier near Giant Mine. Ashley and the other boy got out of the vehicle and refused to get back in, but Papatsie eventually convinced them to re-enter.

Sometime afterwards, Ashley got into the driver's seat after dropping off Papatsie and the other boy. She was found dead around 1:30 a.m. on July 23 near the bottle depot on Old Airport Road. The truck had rolled over.

Though Gagnon acknowledged the girl's death was not Papatsie's fault, she noted he, as the adult, should have known better than to allow her to take the wheel or involve her in the events of that night.

"Mr. Papatsie was the adult, and despite his claim that he did not know better, he should have known better," said Gagnon.

Before that night, Papatsie was facing a charge of possession of stolen property, related to the theft of cheques from the Explorer Hotel. Charges of possession of stolen property – for the truck – and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle were laid after that evening.

Papatsie went on to rack up several more charges for failing to appear in court. He was arrested on Dec. 1 and has been in custody ever since.

Gagnon ordered his 90 days in remand to be considered time served for the charges of failing to appear in court. She handed Papatsie another day in jail for possession of the stolen cheques, 15 days for dangerous driving, and six months for possession of the stolen truck.

He will also face two years of probation, 50 hours of community service, and a two-year driving prohibition. Ashley's mother said she hopes Papatsie will be rehabilitated while in jail.

"I'm glad he at least got something," said McClean.