A 19-year-old man charged in a wrong-way crash that killed two members of a Toronto family and severely injured a third was granted bail Friday, as he was formally charged with impaired driving offences.
The victims, Jayantha Wijeratne, 49, and his 16-year-old daughter, Eleesha, died when the family’s minivan was struck by a sport utility vehicle travelling the wrong direction at Highway 427 and the QEW in Toronto early Aug. 5.
Jayantha Wijeratne’s wife, Antonette, survived but was hospitalized with serious injuries.
The Wijeratnes’ son, Brian, clutched a framed photo of his father and sister as he sat a few metres from the accused during the bail hearing.
Outside the courthouse, Brian Wijeratne explained his anguish over the deaths and the suspect’s release.
“He’s going back to his family. I wish I could go back to my family,” he told CP24’s Katie Simpson.
Brian Wijeratne, a second-year engineering student at Ryerson University who was not with his parents and sister at the time of the crash, said he chose to continue his studies to try to keep his mind occupied.
“Emotionally, I’m destroyed, of course, and I just keep pushing on every single day the best that I possibly can,” he said. “I’m keeping my mind (occupied) as best as I can … as tremendous as it is, you have to try to live as best as you can.”
The driver of the GMC Envoy that crashed with the family’s van, as they returned from a Florida vacation, spent days under police guard as he was treated for serious injuries in a Toronto hospital.
When he made his first court appearance Friday, he used crutches to slowly enter and leave the courtroom and was unable to stand when a judge asked him to.
A publication ban prohibits media from publishing or broadcasting details of the evidence presented during the bail hearing.
The suspect, who was wearing a white collared shirt and black dress pants in court, was released on a $100,000 surety and conditions that essentially put him under house arrest. He is required to live with his father and step-mother and is only allowed to leave for appointments, court appearances, and school or work, or in the presence of certain family members.
While he is on bail, he is not allowed to operate a motor vehicle or consume, purchase or possess alcohol and non-prescription drugs.
Sabastian Prosa is charged with two counts of impaired driving causing death, one count of impaired driving causing bodily harm and several other offences in the head-on crash, all of which have yet to be proven in a court of law. He is scheduled to return to court Oct. 25.
With files from CP24’s Katie Simpson
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