Another slap on the wrist

[Veloo]

Happened last year but she plead guilty this week.

Some pretty lame (almost comical) excuses from her defense and therapist.

https://www.yorkregion.com/news-stor...pleads-guilty/

The Markham driver who hit a father-of-three and fled the scene, leaving him to die in the roadway, pled guilty Jan. 27.

Alexandra Forrestall, 26, admitted to failing to stop at the collision that killed cyclist Safet Tairoski, of Markham, on June 15, 2020 at around 8:22 a.m.

The hearing, conducted over zoom, showed Forrestall, sporting bleach blond hair and red glasses, crying in parts, especially as Tairoski’s three children, wife and brother read their victim impact statements.

It was a sunny and dry morning on Carlton Road in Unionville when Forrestall, who was headed eastbound to her babysitting job in Stouffville, struck Tairoski from behind while he cycled in the road’s painted shoulder.

"She looked in a mirror and thought Mr. Tairoski was dead," Crown Bradley Juriansz read from an agreed statement of facts. "She didn’t stop or offer assistance."

Following the impact, Tairoski suffered traumatic injuries to his face, skull, back and pelvis.

Forrestall kept driving about 20 minutes to the Tim Hortons in the area of Hwy. 48 and Aurora Road.

Once there, she called police and reported that someone had collided with her white Toyota 4Runner in the parking lot.

"She sent pictures of the vehicle to a few people ... saying she was a victim of a hit-and-run," Juriansz read.

Forrestall then continued to her work, before telling her employer that she needed to return to Tim Hortons to speak with the police about the hit-and-run.

"After her arrest, she gave a statement to police, she became emotional and admitted events to police," Juriansz said.

The Crown said the aggravating circumstances for Forrestall, who has three speeding convictions, include the fact that Tairoski died, that she chose to leave, and her attempts to "obstruct" the eventual investigation.

The mitigating circumstances include her early plea and her remorse.

Juriansz requested a sentence of between six and eight months, along with two-years probation and a three-year driving prohibition.

Tairoski’s wife, Anna, said Tairoski was not only the family’s breadwinner, which has left the family struggling to pay the bills, but also her "soulmate, protector".

"I am constantly haunted by the thought that a 911 call could have saved him," she said, calling Forrestall "deceptive and dishonest".

"My children have been stripped and cheated of a lifetime of memories with their father due to a reckless, careless and negligent act of a stranger who displayed no concern for a human life, except for her own."

Tairoski’s middle son, Michael, who turned 22 on the same day as the hearing, which was also the day his father would have turned 55, told of his "everlasting nightmare" when he was awoken by his mother’s screams.

Tairoski's daughter, Amanda, called Forrestall a "heartless monster" who left her father to die.

Forrestall's lawyer, Seth Weinstein, said "devastating collateral consequences", include the former Bill Crothers Secondary School student having her early childhood education diploma suspended in light of her crime.

He implied that because Forrestall has asthma, she should be spared jail, in case she were to contract COVID-19.

Weinstein added Forrestall has been in emotional turmoil since the collision and in the past, has self-harmed and suffered suicidal ideations.

He asked for a conditional sentence of five months worth of house arrest, along with two years of probation and a one-year driving ban.

In her apology to Tairoski's family, in which she expressed her sorrow at his death, Forrestall implied she may have slipped into a dissociative state after the crash.

"My therapist tells me seeing what I saw in those moments was just too much for me to mentally or emotionally comprehend, so in trying to protect me from myself, I just slipped from reality," she said. "I am so, so sorry. I hope one day you can find it in your hearts to forgive me ... to know how deeply sorry I am."

Justice Edward Prutschi will sentence Forrestall on March 4.

[gasman]

Oh poor baby it must have been so hard for her to kill someone riding safely and legally.
Man, I hope they throw the book at her but they won't.

[parris]

and yet another POS plays the system...

[redir]

Accidents sadly happen and I would even understand and sympathize with her had she tried to help but that all goes out the window with hit and run. Making up an entire story about it is the icing on the cake. Should be a murder charge. Period.

[wc1934]

Originally Posted by redir

Accidents sadly happen and I would even understand and sympathize with her had she tried to help but that all goes out the window with hit and run. Making up an entire story about it is the icing on the cake. Should be a murder charge. Period.

Exactly!!!
Had she stopped and called for help the outcome may have been different.

[pasadena]

So horrendeous.
Outrageous the lawyer asked for 5 months of house arrest.

No sentencing yet. I hope the prosecution doesn't make a deal in the meantime and instead pushes for maximum penalties.

Killing cyclists is one of the few crimes that people can consistently get away with homicide with almost no penalty.
Enforcement and prosecution of existing laws needs to be addressed.

[zzy]

Here in Ontario we subscribe to the 'swimming with sharks' mentality and she will get a very light sentence. Recently another driver who was drunk driving and killed a cyclist was caught drunk driving again. They didn't even take her license.

[bil]

Canadian justice is a joke. SAD. These kind of stories is a regular thing, and
nothing is being done about it.

[Mark McM]

Hitting a someone (and possibly killing them) has to be very traumatic. I could possibly understand if the driver freaked out and lost it, and took a while to come to her senses before calling for emergency help. I could also maybe understand if her mind went into a fugue state, so it was totally blocked out of her consciousness (at least for a while). But to make up a story and try to cover up what happened shows an understanding of her culpability, a willful disregard for the well being of the person who hit, and an intent to dodge all responsibility I have no sympathy at all for that.

[Peter P.]

Please keep the forum advised on her sentencing.

[dgauthier]

Stunningly infuriating. Phony and sickening.

She mowed him down from behind on a clear sunny day...*because she was probably looking at her phone.*

[rustychisel]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Hitting a someone (and possibly killing them) has to be very traumatic. I could possibly understand if the driver freaked out and lost it, and took a while to come to her senses before calling for emergency help. I could also maybe understand if her mind went into a fugue state, so it was totally blocked out of her consciousness (at least for a while). But to make up a story and try to cover up what happened shows an understanding of her culpability, a willful disregard for the well being of the person who hit, and an intent to dodge all responsibility I have no sympathy at all for that.

Understood, but where does empathy end and a requirement for some kind of justice take over.

Not to jump on another thread (overly) but have a look at this... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapund...yal_Commission

Note that the driver's first phone call was to his lawyer, and not quite six minutes after striking the cyclist...

[AJM100]

Am I reading this correctly, the prosecution was only seeking a maximum of 8 moths in prison?

Explains the defense's request of 5 months home confinement if that was their recommendation.

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Hitting a someone (and possibly killing them) has to be very traumatic. I could possibly understand if the driver freaked out and lost it, and took a while to come to her senses before calling for emergency help. I could also maybe understand if her mind went into a fugue state, so it was totally blocked out of her consciousness (at least for a while). But to make up a story and try to cover up what happened shows an understanding of her culpability, a willful disregard for the well being of the person who hit, and an intent to dodge all responsibility I have no sympathy at all for that.

+1. Making up the story..............

[oldpotatoe]

Was it ever confirmed that she was on her phone? Why did she say she was in the shoulder?