Grief-stricken family recalls 'beautiful' mum killed by drunk driver
A grieving family has remembered a loving mother of four as a selfless woman who left an unimaginable void after she was killed in a head-on crash by a drunk driver. The family is struggling to cope with the loss.
A loving mother of four has been remembered as a selfless woman who has left an unimaginable void in the hearts of her children and family after she was killed in a head-on crash at Kaarimba in Victoria's north.
October 2, 2025, was a Thursday like any other for 45-year-old Nathalia mother Vilia Sutherland. That afternoon, Ms Sutherland had just purchased groceries and was heading home in her Renault Captur SUV with the family's three dogs, two border collies and a labrador, when tragedy struck.
About 4:40pm while heading north on the Barmah-Shepparton Road at Kaarimba, about 25 kilometres north of Shepparton, a Toyota Corolla driven by 31-year-old Nathalia man Lance O'Brien veered into her lane, crashing into her car. Ms Sutherland died at the scene and one of the border collies was later euthanased after sustaining critical injuries.
The then 30-year-old P2 driver O'Brien was hospitalised with serious injuries as a result of the crash. Subsequent blood analysis found O'Brien had a blood alcohol content of at least 0.143 and the drugs methamphetamine, amphetamine and nordiazepam in his system.
According to prosecution documents presented to the Shepparton County Court, Jason Schreiber from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine estimated O'Brien had a BAC more than three times the limit for fully licensed drivers, and possibly just below four times the limit.
The court heard after impact, O'Brien, who was trapped in his vehicle, asked a witness who had stopped to render assistance,