Today, he appeared in the Napier District Court and was sent to prison for two years and three months.
“People tell me I should forgive you and move on,” one of Staples’ grandmothers, Seline Metekingi, told the court.
“One thing I will never be able to do is forgive you for what you have taken from us, what you stole from us [and] the hurt, the pain,” she said.
“I hope you feel our family’s pain every day for the rest of your life.”
Both Staples and Kalmancsi were trapped in their vehicles after the second crash at about 20 minutes past midnight on Sunday, May 11, 2025.
Despite the efforts of passers-by and first responders who rushed to her aid, Staples, the mother of a little boy and the oldest of eight siblings, died at the scene.
“It breaks my heart. We miss her so much,” her other grandmother, Denise Ropiha, told the court.
“Mother’s Day is meant to be a happy day. It now represents a day of loss, sadness and extreme grief for our whānau,” she said.
“Jayde was bubbly, vibrant, loud and very outgoing. She had a laugh that would make you just want to smile.
“When you heard her laugh, you knew she wasn’t far. Sadly, we don’t hear that laugh any more.”
The court was told Kalmancsi was driving his Mitsubishi Galant without supervision in breach of his learner’s licence, and with a very high level of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, in his system.
A blood test taken later at Hawke’s Bay Hospital showed at least 18 nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood – six times the level considered to be high risk in terms of impaired driving.
Kalmancsi crashed first at the intersection of Southland Rd and Southampton St West in Hastings, after failing to give way to a BMW at a roundabout.
First victim shaken but not injured
That crash caused “significant damage” to both the Mitsubishi and the BMW, according to a police summary of facts, but Kalmancsi drove away at speed.
The BMW driver was shaken but uninjured and was able to watch what happened next.
About 200m further down Southampton St West, Kalmancsi’s vehicle, which had damage to its right rear wheel, crossed the centre line and collided head-on with Staples’ Toyota Vitz.
“The life of a young mother was taken in an instant, and it could have been any one of us,” Crown prosecutor Clayton Walker told the court.
Defence lawyer Matthew Phelps said Kalmancsi was a “complex and vulnerable young man” who would carry a heavy burden for the rest of his life, knowing that his actions had caused the young woman’s death.
The crash happened two months and seven days after Kalmancsi’s 18th birthday, which allowed the case to be dealt with in the district court.
Had it happened before his 18th birthday, it could have been dealt with in the Youth Court.
Phelps argued for a sentence of home detention, but Judge Richard Earwaker calculated an end sentence of 27 months in prison, after taking into account discounts for youth, remorse, Kalmancsi’s personal circumstances and his guilty plea.
This was above the two-year threshold where a home detention sentence could be considered.
Prison for young man ‘a difficult thing’
Judge Earwaker said sending a young man to prison was a “difficult thing”, but it was appropriate in this case, and the need to deter others from driving while drugged was important.
Among the aggravating factors was the fact that Kalmancsi had driven away from the first accident.
“Had you stopped, then of course the second, fatal crash would not have occurred,” Judge Earwaker said.
Kalmancsi was also disqualified from driving for 18 months from his parole eligibility date, which will be one-third of the way through his sentence.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.