The death of a 16-year-old girl in a violent swerve that left three people injured after an ordinary evening at the cinema on Friday had the effect of “a slap” in the face of those close to her, who are calling for caution on our part. roads.
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“Why does it have to be her? laments Anthony St-Georges. It was just a question of space [dans le véhicule]. Forward or on the other side, it could have been another person.”
His girlfriend of the last 6 months, Sarah Fournier, was returning from a trip to the cinema with three other friends when her fate changed.
Sarah Fournier
photo taken from the Serre & Finnegan website
Late Friday evening, on Route 219 near Chemin des Vieux-Moulins, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the driver of the vehicle, of which Sarah was a passenger, allegedly lost control for an unknown reason.
The police carefully analyzed the scene at the end of the evening.
Photo Agence QMI, Pascal Girard
Just before the tragedy, Sarah Fournier was still exchanging messages with Anthony St-Georges.
“She wrote to me, then in the same minute, I think the accident happened,” he describes. Of course I would have liked to say goodbye to him, but we couldn’t know.”
The vehicle would have rolled over before stopping its course against trees. The other girls on board, aged 17 to 19, were also injured, but their lives were not feared.
2 long hours
Anthony St-Georges says he waited two long hours at the hospital before the unthinkable was confirmed: Sarah did not survive the collision.
Since then, the pain has been acute in those around the teenager. Her boyfriend and her best friend, Ophély Gloor, still wanted to speak with The newspaper to honor his memory.
“She was a really kind person to everyone,” emphasizes Ophély. She was a girl who saw really far into the future. […] She had dreams and dreams. It was just beautiful to see.”
Anthony St-Georges describes her as “a caring girl” who had “everything to succeed.”
“For me, it was the best,” emotionally sums up the one who remembers the moments singing with the deceased in the car. “We were a solid team, always there for each other.”
“A slap”
The Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Police Department has not identified any criminal element in this case.
The investigation was transferred to the coroner in order to clarify the circumstances surrounding the accident, said spokesperson Jérémie Lévesque.
A security perimeter was erected by the authorities after the tragedy.
Pascal Girard/AGENCE QMI
This tragedy comes after a difficult holiday season on our roads.
“You have to be careful when the weather is unstable,” summarizes Anthony St-Georges. It’s when it happens to us that it slaps us in the face.”
Provincially, the Sûreté du Québec recorded 7 deaths from December 22 to 31. No other tragedy of this seriousness seems to have occurred since then on its territory.
An official review of the holiday season could be presented later this week.
Other collisions took place elsewhere in Quebec. In Montreal, Michael Chintakis and Augustin Wesley Katimba were allegedly grabbed to death on the night of 1er January by Antoine Dubuc. He is accused of hit-and-run and driving while impaired.