Charges have been laid more than a year after a B.C. collision killed a popular Whitehorse musician.

Reid Parent died the morning of Nov.14, 2010 when the car he was a passenger in left the road and slammed into a tree on Saltspring Island.

He had been wearing a seatbelt.

The driver, 26-year-old Laura Rann of Victoria, survived the tragedy.

She now faces one count of dangerous driving causing death.

Rann made her first appearance in a B.C. court today.

Parent, 25, was born and raised in Whitehorse. He was best known as a hip-hop musician as well as for his work with local youth.

He moved to B.C. several years before his death to start up his own landscaping business and continue working on his music, his uncle, Whitehorse-area resident Florian Lemphers, told the Star this morning.

"We're still in a tremendous amount of shock from losing Reid – that's not something that we're ever going to get over,” he said.

Cpl. Annie Linteau, a spokesperson for the B.C. RCMP, said today investigations can sometimes be complex.

There are a number of steps which need to be taken before charges can be laid, including providing all the information to the Crown prosecutor's office.

Linteau said it would be inappropriate to comment on whether speed or alcohol were factors in the crash while the case is before the court.

Lemphers said Parent's mother, Daisy,who now lives in Ontario, still finds her son's death difficult to speak about.

"One family has already been ruined when we lost Reid. Now it looks like another family will be going through a difficult time of their own,” Lemphers said.

"I don't think there's any happiness (about the charge).”

Hundreds of people attended a memorial for Parent following his death. They remembered him as a good friend who loved to make others laugh.

Rann is next scheduled to appear in court on March 7.