The driver accused of killing two children by crashing his bus into a Laval daycare will have to stand trial for two premeditated murders, the court has just ruled.
Pierre Ny St-Amand, 52, remained unmoved when Judge François Landry rendered his decision Thursday afternoon at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse, at the end of the preliminary investigation. He also faces charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Since Monday, the bus driver at the Société de transport de Laval has been undergoing this stage of the legal process which aims to determine whether the evidence collected was sufficient to hold a trial.
On February 8, 2023, the accused allegedly hit the Ste-Rose Educational Garderie with his bus, located at the end of a cul-de-sac in a residential area of Laval.
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A five-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy, whose identities are protected by a publication ban, were killed.
Ny St-Amand was arrested at the scene. He then appeared from his hospital bed, where he punched a police officer in the face.
The accused was subsequently found fit to stand trial following a psychiatric evaluation.
Ny St-Amand’s wife, civilians who intervened with the accused, police officers, work colleagues and experts from the Philippe-Pinel National Institute of Forensic Psychiatry were heard during the preliminary investigation.
However, a publication ban prevents us from revealing the nature of the testimonies.
Several relatives of the victims, accompanied by a service dog, were present in the courtroom to hear the Crown’s evidence, represented by Ms.are Karine Dalphond and Simon Blais.
Pierre Ny St-Amand, represented by Mare Julien L’spérance Hudon and Véronique Talbot, will return to court in April for further proceedings.