“What if he [Brown] stayed at the scene and called for help, would she have lived?” asked her sister, Amanda Lawrie-Jones, in the County Court in the Latrobe Valley on Tuesday.

“A lot of us will never be the same again without Carol-Anne.”

Lawrie-Jones has saved her sister’s handprint as her phone background, and it is a comfort during difficult times.

Brown on Tuesday pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop, failing to render assistance and other bail and driving offences.

In a letter to Jones’ family, Brown apologised for failing to help Jones as she lay dying in her car, and told them he acted like a coward.

“I’m so sorry for your loss and I can only imagine how you all feel,” Brown said in the letter read out by Jonathan Miller, his lawyer.

‘When a car pulls up, I regretfully ran and hid like a coward, due to fear and panic.’

Brenton Brown, in an apology letter to Carol-Anne’s family

“When the accident first happened, I want you to know that I ran to the car and disconnected the battery and to see if Carol was OK, but I was too shaken to even enter a PIN code into my phone.

“When a car pulls up, I regretfully ran and hid like a coward, due to fear and panic.

“I think about and regret that every day, and dream about it every night. I don’t expect your forgiveness because I’ll never forgive myself for the accident which killed an innocent woman.”

Brown had a dysfunctional upbringing, the court heard, and he was exposed to family violence and sexual abuse, and had an extensive criminal history which included driving offences.

During the court hearing, there were few moments when Jones’ family and friends were not gripped by their mourning, and they frequently held back tears or cried when they read victim impact statements.

They all spoke of the central role she played in their lives, and her generous and giving personality.

Jones was treated at the scene by ambulance members and taken to the Latrobe Valley Hospital. She was then taken by helicopter to The Alfred hospital’s intensive care unit, court documents say.

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She died on May 18, just over two weeks after the crash. Brown never reported the crash.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Robyn Harper agreed that Brown acted like a coward in failing to help Jones.

Brown was wounded two months prior in an unsolved shooting in the Latrobe Valley area, the Herald Sun reported. Brown did not report the shooting to police and did not co-operate with officers investigating what happened to him.

He will be sentenced on May 10.