Drunk taxi driver behind the wheel: he ruins the lives of two “guardian angels”

A drunk taxi driver who drove into a concrete wall while escorting two beneficiary attendants not only seriously injured them, but also completely shattered their lives, they emotionally testified this Wednesday.

“I worked six days a week to help my daughters and my husband in Haiti, but now I have to live on compensation, I can no longer help them, they are desperate… I have not worked all my life to suffer so,” said Florence René-Pierre with a disappointed look, this Wednesday at the Montreal courthouse.

Just before, Élçoinize Vital explained how she could no longer help the seniors in the residence where she worked. If she still manages to live, it is thanks to the support of her daughter who had to stop her studies to help her, following the tragedy dating back to March 2022.

Right into a wall

At the time, the two women had just finished their shift in Vaudreuil. As usual, a driver paid by the company went to pick them up to take them back to Montreal. Except that that day, the driver, William François, had drunk alcohol before getting behind the wheel. With an alcohol level of 120 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, after being taken to the police station he was well over the legal limit.

During the trip, he began to zigzag while driving too fast. And when he wanted to take a curve, he lost control of his Toyota Sienna and crashed head-on into a concrete wall.

“I was in pain, I was crying, but Mr. François told me to be quiet, to “shut my mouth”,” explained Ms. Vital.

Both women are now disabled and must live on benefits even though they would rather continue to work.

He calls on God

Criminally charged, William François pleaded guilty to driving while impaired. A fervent Christian, he is now asking for a sentence to be served at home, in order to avoid expulsion from the country, but also because he has already been punished, according to him.

“I have already been condemned by religion, with the law, I am suffering a double punishment,” testified the 35-year-old driver who swears he will no longer touch alcohol.

He then apologized for driving drunk, even though “it happens,” according to him, while saying he hoped the victims could recover quickly. He was not supposed to work that day, he added.

But the forecasts are bleak, according to the latter, who can no longer even do their grocery shopping themselves. In Ms. René-Pierre’s case, her pain is such that she has to spend most of the time lying down. With her meager compensation and a slow repayment process, she had to take out a loan just to be able to attend her physiotherapy sessions.

Hard sacrifices

In fact, the only person who helps them is Erbine Jérôme, Madame Vital’s daughter.

“I had just arrived on a visa to study business administration but I missed my sessions because I had to do everything for them,” she testified. I lost my study permit, but since I can’t leave my mother alone, I had to apply for asylum…”

In addition to helping the victims, she gives language lessons in order to provide for the needs of her loved ones, while repaying student debts that she was never really able to start.

“I didn’t come to Quebec for that,” she said, annoyed. But you have to work, otherwise the bills aren’t paid… But I would really like to be able to resume my studies…”

During the pleadings, Me Sylvie Dulude underlined the courage of the victims, two “guardian angels” who are now “severely disabled”. Adding to this the scourge of drunk driving, she believes that François deserves two years less one day of incarceration.

But for Mr. Pierre Fugère of the defense, the accused, who is the father of two children born in the country, deserves a chance to avoid deportation once his sentence has been served. And for this, he must absolutely avoid incarceration.

“I think that society would like him to stay in Quebec,” he argued.

Judge Nadia Bérubé will hand down the sentence at a later date.