A Saint John man has been sentenced to prison for dangerous driving causing the death of a 15-year-old girl.

Nicholas Pike, 21, will spend two-and-a-half years in prison after he was involved in a tragic accident last year.

A cross marks the place where a carload of teenagers plunged over a nine-metre embankment on June 26.

Kylee Wallace, 15, was one of six people in the car. The Saint John High student was thrown from the vehicle and died from her injuries.

Pike was driving the car. He was sentenced in a courtroom filled with tearful family and friends Tuesday.

"I truly hope at some point, whether it's years down the road, that maybe he'll be able to really comprehend," says the victim's mother, Raylene Wallace. "At 19 or 20 I don't think he really understands what he's taken away."

In a victim impact statement, Wallace's sister Desiree said:

"I was always so proud of her. She was my inspiration…I am not only mourning the loss of my sister. I am also mourning the loss of the dreams and hopes and aspirations she had."

Pike was described in court as a young man who made a terrible mistake, one that led to a tragic result on a rural road just over a year ago, but one family friend says the sentence isn't enough.

"It's not enough, it's not enough," says Helena Berryman. "Nothing will ever bring them back, but they have to get the message out there, it's got to be out there, you can't just do this stuff and walk away."

One report said Pike was driving between 120 and 150 kilometres per hour in a 50 kilometre per hour zone when the accident occurred.

He had been drinking, but his blood alcohol level was too close to the legal limit to support a charge of impaired driving causing death.

"Any sentence is not going to fix the problem, but it's going to give this young man an opportunity to reflect on his behaviour," says defence lawyer David Lutz.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Mike Cameron