Teen driver pleads guilty to 2018 crash that killed 17-year-old
Court was told passengers pleaded with him to slow down, drive safely
An ongoing trial for an 18-yearold driver involved in a crash that killed a 17-year-old honour roll student ended abruptly Friday after the young man decided to plead guilty to all charges.
The St. Catharines teen, who was 17 at the time of the crash and cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, had pleaded not guilty to five charges including criminal negligence causing death.
After six days of testimony, lawyer Wayne Brooks said Friday in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines his client wanted to plead guilty to the charges.
Courtney Thompson, a 17year-old student at Laura Secord Secondary School and accomplished athlete, died March 14, 2018, after a Mazda3 collided with a pickup truck on a rural section of Pelham Road in St. Catharines.
Courtney, the ex-girlfriend of the defendant, was sitting in the front passenger seat when the driver lost control on a bend in the road and the vehicle collided head-on with the truck.
She died at the scene from blunt force trauma.
Two males in the backseat, both 17, sustained non-life threatening injuries. One underwent reconstructive surgery to his right hand at a local hospital, while the second was rushed to a Hamilton hospital where he had several surgeries to repair multiple fractures to his arm and leg.
In spring 2018, court heard, Courtney was enjoying her final year at high school and had been accepted to attend Brock University in the fall. She was a few weeks shy of her 18th birthday.
On the day of the crash, a group of teenagers had arranged to meet at Decew Falls in St. Catharines to celebrate the birthday of
a mutual friend and to “hang out and drink alcohol.”
The defendant had volunteered to be a designated driver and was driving his friend’s car.
The teen held a G1 licence at the time. That designation meant he could only drive if a fully licensed driver with at least four years' experience was in the front passenger seat.
None of the teens in the car had the required licence.
Assistant Crown attorney Andrew Brown told court the defendant was driving at an “excessively high rate of speed” as he travelled the winding and dark country roads on route to Decew Falls.
Police estimated he was driving between 100 and 140 kilometres per hour in an area that was posted 70 km-h.
“He would jerk the steering wheel in an attempt to scare his passengers and he would drive in the oncoming lane, back and forth,” Brown said.
His passengers repeatedly told the young man to slow down.
He replied, “No man, I got this,” and continued to speed.
An investigation indicated he was driving at more than 100 km-h when his car slammed head-on into the pickup truck.
The driver of the truck suffered numerous injuries, including a punctured tongue, and underwent surgery to repair scar tissue to her chest area.
The defendant was also airlifted to a Hamilton hospital for treatment of a head injury. His lawyer said he has very little memory of the night of the collision.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.