Fatal hit-and-run: victim’s family dissatisfied with driver’s two-year sentence

A driver betrayed by his cell phone who recorded everything about his crazy driving before he fatally hit a pedestrian and abandoned her received two years in prison, an unsatisfactory sentence for the victim’s family.

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“Is this [qu’une peine de] is two years enough? Is it worth the pain that I will live the rest of my life? What if it’s your child, your baby, your reason for living? Do you think this sentence would be enough?” said Éliane Dell, speaking directly to the driver responsible for the death of her daughter Clarissa St-Armand.

José Luis Raymond then headed to detention, after being handcuffed in front of around thirty relatives of the victim and members of his family. The 34-year-old man pleaded guilty last fall to charges of failing to stop following a fatal collision and dangerous driving causing death.

The 25-year-old victim had the misfortune of crossing the path of the accused on the night of June 24, 2022. She was crossing Boulevard de Rome, near Rue Lautrec, when she was hit head-on. He was traveling at nearly 90 km/h, while the speed limit in this sector is 50 km/h. He then cowardly fled the scene, driving at full speed, reaching a speed of 130 km/h in a 30 zone.

Cell phone seized

If the police were able to obtain this valuable data, it was thanks to the seizure of his cell phone in the following days.

The device had recorded all his movements as well as the speed of the movements. The investigators were thus able to trace the chronology of his evening.

They learned that at the time of the fatal collision, the accused was returning from a Montreal bar and was looking for a late-night snack. In the moments before the tragedy, he had stopped at five McDonald’s branches, all of which were closed. During his crossing of the Champlain Bridge, he drove up to 145 km/h, or 65 km/h more than the permitted speed.

The tragedy occurred barely two minutes after he left the parking lot of the McDonald’s in Quartier Dix30.

Vehicle found

The police were able to find his vehicle thanks to debris found at the scene of the tragedy, more precisely by noticing the identification number corresponding to a part of the grille (grid at the front of the vehicle).

Investigators went to the accused’s home the next day and saw the wanted vehicle damaged in the parking lot.

Raymond was not present, he was at Rawdon Cascades Park spending the afternoon with friends.

The vehicle was seized. It was the accused himself who then contacted the police, believing he had been the victim of a theft. He was then informed that he was a suspect in a fatal hit-and-run.

“You destroyed me, you ruined everything and you took control of my life by taking away that of my Clari,” also launched the victim’s mother.

In tears, the accused wanted to address the woman, as well as her relatives.

“It seems very inconceivable to ask you for forgiveness since I took your daughter’s life. I never intended. I fully acknowledge having taken away the most precious thing in your life, he said. Regret and [la] shame with which I live will never leave me.”

His lawyer, M^e Mélanie Brochu also made a point of recalling that the sentence proposed by the parties is within the range of sentences handed down for this type of crime.

Judge Julie-Maude Greffe endorsed the suggested sentence.

José Luis Raymond will also have to do 240 hours of community service upon his release from prison and will not be able to drive for five years.

What they said:

“Explain to me the boom it made when you hit her… Do you remember that? Do you sometimes think about it? Because I can describe to you the boom of the impact that you came to inflict on my life.”

“You abandoned her, leaving her in fear and pain on the asphalt and in her blood. The weather was critical and no one knows if she would have had a chance of surviving, but you were too careless and unconscious.”

– Éliane Dell, mother of the victim

“I’m mad at you for doing what you did, for taking from me what you took from me, for taking away my best friend. To err is human, they say. Know that error is no longer considered human when you choose not to stop, not to be the good Samaritan who could perhaps have saved her.”

– Kimberly Dell, cousin of the victim

This is a case with significant consequences, which have caused a lot of devastation. Although there is only one victim listed in this file, you should know that many collateral victims are also suffering.”

–M^e Marie-Soleil Leclerc, Crown prosecutor

“Although I did not know Clarissa, her name will always be engraved in my heart, and your loss, in my thoughts. Day and night, I have thoughts about her that I took her life.”

– José Luis Raymond, accused