Nanaimo RCMP have charged a 40-year-old man after a yearlong investigation into a crash that killed a Ladysmith woman last November.
Heidi Plato, 51, was killed in a two-vehicle collision on Yellow Point Road on Nov. 10, 2015.
The Nanaimo man allegedly fled the scene of the accident and was located by investigators a short distance away on Cedar Road about an hour later.
He was arrested at the time for refusing to provide a breath sample and failing to remain at the scene of an accident but released pending charges.
Police said the subsequent investigation involved interviews with numerous witnesses, the completion of traffic analysis reports as well as the collection of forensic and physical evidence.
Plato was a local musician and a member of the Awkward a/c punk band where she sang and played drums. Her husband, Pete Vizvari, played guitar and they two had no children.
A warrant was issued for the other motorist on Nov. 1, 2016 and he was arrested the following day in Nanaimo.
RCMP allege when the man was located he was operating a motor vehicle and was believed to be impaired by alcohol.
He was later charged with refusing to provide a breath sample and has remained in RCMP custody since his arrest.
Dustin Dennis Zinter is facing several charges under the criminal code, including Dangerous Driving Causing Death and Fail to Stop at the Scene of an Accident.
He appeared in Nanaimo Provincial Court on Tuesday and is scheduled to be before a judge again on Nov. 29.