The sister of hockey players Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, who were killed by a drunk driver in 2024, announced the birth of her son — and decided to honor her brother through the newborn’s name.
Matthew Guy Joyce, the couple’s first child, was born on Saturday, Katie Gaudreau-Joyce announced in a heartfelt post on Instagram.
“The moment our hearts grew bigger than we ever imagined. Welcome to the world, sweet boy,” Gaudreau-Joyce wrote.
Gaudreau-Joyce married Devin Joyce in July 2025, 11 months after their wedding was originally canceled following the sudden deaths of her two brothers the day before.
Johnny, a 31-year-old NHL star, and his brother Matthew, a 29-year-old former pro-hockey player, were killed in a drunk driving crash while biking from Katie’s wedding rehearsal dinner in New Jersey in August 2024.
The siblings — both married dads — were single-file on the shoulder of a road in Oldsmans Township when driver Sean Higgins allegedly drunkenly mowed them down.
Another car slowed down to safely pass the two cyclists, but Higgins decided to go around that car and hit the brothers in the process. He pulled over a quarter-mile down the road, where cops found him.
Higgins — who’s previously rejected a 35-year-sentence plea deal — has pleaded not guilty to reckless vehicular homicide, aggravated manslaughter, and related charges.
A judge denied his bid to have his case tossed over an allegedly botched blood-alcohol test.
He faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
