Muzzo eligible for day release next month
Convicted in drunk-driving crash that killed three kids, grandfather
Two years after the impaired driving crash that claimed the lives of three children and their grandfather, Marco Muzzo has reportedly been moved to a minimum security prison and is likely to apply for unattended day release in October.
On Sept. 26, Jennifer Neville-Lake wrote a tribute to all three of her children — Daniel, 9, Harry, 5, and Milly, 2 — in a Facebook post shared more than 2,000 times.
“Another year is dead and gone,” she wrote. “Another year and I’m still here. Another year of every day hearing how many others have joined this gruesome family I was forced into, made up of victims of impaired driving.”
Also killed during the 2015 crash in Vaughan was Neville-Lake’s father, Gary Neville, 69. Badly injured were her mother, Neriza Neville, and grandmother Josefina Frias.
The anniversary and post came as Muzzo appears to be benefiting from prison rules designed to help inmates reintegrate into the community.
Despite being sentenced in March 2016 to 10 years for impaired driving, Muzzo can apply for “unescorted temporary absences” on Oct. 18.
They can be granted by the prison’s warden, according to Corrections Canada spokesperson Kyle Lawlor.
Global News reported that Muzzo was moved from medium security to a minimum-security prison last week. But Corrections Canada would not confirm this or the name of the prison where he is being held.
An inmate’s preparedness for minimum security, which has no fences but does have boundaries, is decided based on three factors, according to Corrections Canada: an inmate’s risk to the public, their flight risk and their institutional behaviour.
YorkRegion.com repeatedly asked Corrections Canada why the details of Muzzo’s imprisonment are being withheld from the public, but was told information could not be released under the Privacy Act.
Corrections Canada did provide Muzzo’s schedule for release, including his eligibility for day parole, on Nov. 9, 2018; full parole eligibility, on May 9, 2019; his statutory release date, June 18, 2022; and his warrant expiry, June 28, 2025.
York Regional Police say impaired driving charges remain high, despite having fallen somewhat from last year. From January 2017 to Sept. 12, there were 853 impaired charges in the region, down 47 from 2016.
Meanwhile, the Facebook post from Jennifer Neville-Lake described her continued agony over her children’s death.
“I’ve learned about how unfair, unjust and just downright cruel it is that I have to wait to be driven daily to visit my children and my dad at their forever bed, to sit at the foot of a tombstone that bears their beautiful photos and the dates of their individual sunrises and sunsets,” Lake’s post said.