A driver who killed a 68-year-old driver by running a red light while driving at breakneck speed in a 50 km/h zone has been sentenced to more than four years in prison. Without a valid license, Berwide Charles had fled after the collision.
The 28-year-old Montrealer pleaded guilty earlier this month to counts of dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop following a fatal accident. This tragedy which cost the life of Ginette Maille Roux had passed under the media radar in 2020.
PHOTO PUBLISHED ON THE MAGNUS POIRIER WEBSITE
The victim, Ginette Maille Roux
The day after Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, in June 2020, around 5 a.m., Berwide Charles drives between 112 and 122 km/h on Metropolitan Boulevard East, a road limited to 50 km/h which provides access to the highway of the same name in Montreal. Two other passengers are on board his Lexus ES350.
At the same time, driving a Jeep Cherokee, Ginette Maille Roux is traveling at 40 km/h on boulevard Provencher in a northerly direction and arrives at boulevard Métropolitain. This intersection is at the limit of the Saint-Michel and Saint-Léonard sectors.
It was at this moment that Berwide Charles ran the red light and hit the victim’s vehicle head-on. The driver and one of his passengers fled, while the third sidekick, injured, remained on the scene. Berwide Charles’ blood was found on the airbag, leading to his arrest in May 2021. Note that he did not have a valid driver’s license that day.
Ginette Maille Roux died six months later, after suffering a large number of fractures and traumas.
“I’ll put a bullet in your head”
Released pending trial, Berwide Charles quickly violated his release conditions. While it was forbidden to him, he was caught driving another Lexus in August 2021. His vehicle was then weaving on Highway 15.
The driver had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit.
Berwide Charles gave the police a hard time resisting arrest. It took four officers to get him into the police vehicle. “If I wasn’t handcuffed, I’d put a bullet in your head,” he told one of the officers.
The madman even spat in the face of the policeman, which forced the officers to install an anti-spitting mask on him. Still aggressive in the hospital, Berwide Charles managed to remove his mask and hit a policeman in the back with his saliva.
In addition to a sentence of four years and four months in prison, from which the time served in preventive detention is subtracted, Berwide Charles will not be able to drive for five years.
Me Anik Archambault represented the public ministry, while Me Dominic Côté defended the accused.