Porsche SUV Driver Who Killed Canadian Couple Walking on Harbor Drive Pleads Guilty

A 35-year-old man who fatally struck a married couple near Liberty Station on Point Loma with his SUV earlier this year pleaded guilty this week to two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Kevin William Thomer is expected to be sentenced to a year in custody, followed by probation, for the deaths of Alberta, Canada, residents Jerome Zimmer, 71, and Madelyn Zimmer, 69, on Jan. 19. However, it's expected that his defense team will argue for alternatives to custody.

San Diego Harbor Police said that at about 6 p.m. that day, Thomer was in his 2021 Porsche Cayenne SUV, speeding westbound on North Harbor Drive, west of Nimitz Boulevard, and struck the Zimmers, who died at the scene. Police said the couple were crossing the road when they were hit.

That stretch of road is a few blocks before Harbor Drive terminates to the west at Rosecrans Street on Point Loma, not far from Pizza Nova.

Thomer was booked into county jail in March on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter but remained out of custody for much of the time since his arrest.

Jerry Zimmer, as he was known, was the superintendent of the Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools system, which posted about the Zimmers a few days after the deadly crash.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter non-alcohol with gross negligence and is set to be sentenced in January.

"Jerry had a long career with Catholic schools in both Saskatchewan and Alberta, serving as the superintendent of Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools from 2004-2009," the school system posted. "Let us pray in thanksgiving for the lives of both Jerry and Madelyn, for the consolation of their children and grandchildren, and for all the family and friends who are grieving."

According to an obituary from their children, the Zimmers were survived by four children and 11 grandchildren.

Thomer will be sentenced on Jan. 27 in the downtown courthouse.