A man facing impaired driving charges in the deaths of two 19-year-old Centennial College students over the weekend has been denied bail following a court appearance.
The 40-year-old man made a court appearance Monday afternoon. Wearing a black coat, he sat in the prisoner’s box with his head down in his hands, shaking his head and sobbing.
He was led away in handcuffs after being denied bail.
Hours later Centennial College identified the two students who were fatally struck as Damir Kussain and Wei Jie Zhu-Li.
Paramedics and officers were called to the intersection of Markham Road and Progress Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night for a pedestrian-involved collision.
According to police sources, three international students staying at the college over the holidays had gone for a walk to get food when they were hit by a vehicle.
The driver lost control of his 2014 Mazda while heading east on Progress Avenue at a high rate of speed, police said.
Police allege he mounted the sidewalk, struck a guardrail, and then hit the three pedestrians, who were on the south sidewalk.
Officers arrived to find Kussain and Zhu-Li suffering from very serious injuries. They were subsequently transported to hospital, where they later died.
The third pedestrian, Zhu-Li’s older brother Jun Ju, was found with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital where he remains.
In a statement, Mayor John Tory said the students were from Kazakhstan and China.
The driver, who was also taken to hospital to be assessed, was later arrested by police.
In a statement released Monday, a spokesperson for the college confirmed that the victims were among some 250 students staying at the Progress Campus over the holiday break.
“The college is arranging for on-site grief counselling today through our Centre for Accessible Learning and Counselling and our service partners,” the statement read.
The campus is located about 500 metres from where the collision occurred.
The accused, who has been identified as Pickering resident Michael Johnson,is facing nine charges, including impaired driving causing death and dangerous driving causing death.
In denying Johnson bail Monday, the judge said it was necessary in order to preserve public faith in the justice system.
Investigators are asking anyone with security or dash camera footage of the area at the time of the deadly collision to contact police.
‘Infuriatingly preventable’
In a statement Monday evening, Mayor John Tory called the deaths “a devastating tragedy” and lamented the fact that they were likely preventable.
“This is a devastating tragedy to the centennial college community and to the families and friends of these young students from China and Kazakhstan,” Tory said in his statement.
“It is also an infuriatingly preventable loss of life and one every person in our society should be committed to preventing so that no family has to suffer this unspeakable loss.”
He said the city is working “relentlessly” to make the city’s streets safer through road design, lower speed limits, better traffic enforcement, and improved technology.
He also urged people to behave responsibly and refrain from drinking and driving.
