Drunk driver Muzzo out on day parole
A Toronto- area man who killed four members of a family — including three children — while driving so drunk his blood-alcohol level was two to three times the legal limit, has been granted day parole.
The Tuesday decision that granted Marco Muzzo, the heir to a billion-dollar family contracting firm, day release was not made public. The mother of the children killed posted the decision on her Facebook page.
A statement shared with media by Muzzo’s lawyers, expressed Muzzo’s remorse.
“I was careless and irresponsible when I made the choice to drink and drive. There is no way that I can undo the damage that I have caused. I will live with this for the rest of my life,” Muzzo said in the statement.
The horrific events occurred on Sept. 27, 2015. Muzzo had flown back to Toronto on a private jet from his bachelor party in Miami.
He picked up his Jeep Cherokee at the airport and sped off; he was driving 85 kilometres an hour, en route to his home in Woodbridge, when he blew a stop sign in Vaughan, Ont., and slammed into a minivan on the driver’s side.
The crash killed three children: Nine- year- old Daniel Neville-lake, his fiveyear- old brother Harrison and two-year-old sister Milly. The children’s 65- year- old grandfather, Gary Neville, was also killed. Injured were the children’s grandmother and great-grandmother.
Jennifer Neville-lake, the mother of the children killed and daughter of Gary Neville, said in a Facebook post that “nothing changes” for her.
“No matter what happened today, Daniel, Harry and Milly don’t get to come back home. My dad isn’t coming home to my mom,” she wrote. “I know I did my best. My family’s killer, drunk driver Marco Michael Muzzo has been granted day parole.”
Muzzo pleaded guilty in 2016 to four counts of impaired driving causing death, and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and was given eight months credit for time he had already been jailed.
He’s been serving his time at the minimum security Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst, Ont.
Muzzo became eligible for day parole in the fall of 2018, but was denied in November 2018.
He became eligible for full parole in May 2019, and his latest hearing was Tuesday.
The Parole Board of Canada did not reply to a request for comment by press time.