A 39-year-old driver could face 12 months behind bars for killing a mother in a collision while overtaking very dangerously.
• Also read: A woman dies in a head-on collision in Saint-Liboire
“That day was the most horrifying of my 58 years. The feeling of losing half of me. Nobody wants to know what it’s like to lose a child so tragically. […] Life will not be the same without her,” wrote Laurraine Beaupré, the victim’s mother, in a letter read in court.
Paul-André Côté pleaded guilty this morning at the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse to causing the death of Martine Beaupré, a 33-year-old mother, by dangerous driving.
Two affected children
“Two children without seeing their mother. They depended on her. […] They’re not the same anymore. They don’t have the same zest for life anymore,” Ms. Beaupré said in her letter.
The tragic accident happened on November 13, 2020 at Ring Charlotte in Saint-Liboire in Montérégie.
The victim slowed to turn left into a driveway to take lunch to his wife. Some vehicles followed her at this point and also braked in the 90 km/h zone.
The defendant then decided to accelerate in order to overtake in the oncoming lane.
PHOTO COURTESY/Adam Bolestridge
The tragic accident happened on November 13, 2020 at Ring Charlotte in Saint-Liboire in Montérégie.
“All his fault”
“When the lady signed up to shoot, the gentleman hit her. […] It’s entirely his fault,” Crown Prosecutor Sandra Bilodeau said.
According to his statements in court, the defendant was traveling at a speed of around 120 km/h in the seconds before the impact. He unsuccessfully tried to brake and avoid the victim’s vehicle.
The death of the mother of the family was confirmed shortly thereafter.
“It’s been a little over two years and I still can’t get over it. I don’t know if I’ll ever get out of it, it’s hell on earth,” Martine Beaupré’s mother wrote in her letter.
Common Proposal
Judge Sacha Blais was presented with a joint proposal, namely a 12-month prison sentence and a 3-year driving ban.
However, the judge decided to postpone the sentencing until February 3 in order to “be able to explain it well” to the victim’s relatives.
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