Man charged in deadly 401 crash that killed multiple children appears in court | CBC News (2025)

Adam Carter, Sara Jabakhanji · CBC News

· Posted: May 20, 2025 11:10 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 hours ago

A man facing impaired driving chargesin connection with a deadly Toronto crash that killed three children and sent three others to hospital briefly appeared in court Tuesday morning.

Ethan Lehouillierof Georgetown, Ont., was arrested at the scene of the crashatRenforth Drive and Highway 401 Sunday. He is facing 12 charges, including three counts of impaired driving causing death.

Lehouillierappeared byvideo from a detention centrewearing an orange jumpsuit. He only spoke to give his name.

The 19-year-old did not request a bail hearing Tuesday.Lehouillieris due back in court next month.

Police said the incidenthappenedat around 12:30 a.m. Sundayat the eastbound off-ramp near Renforth Drive.

Investigators allege Lehouillierwasspeeding in aDodge Caravan whileheading east, when helost control of hisvehicle. The vanthen went over a median and collidedwith a Chrysler Pacifica minivan that was stopped at a traffic light.

Four children, their mother, and a family friend were inside at the time, police say.Three children,siblings aged 15, 13 and 6, were killed. Their identities are coveredunder a court-ordered publication ban.

A 40-year-old man who was behind the wheel of the Pacifica, a 35-year-old woman and a 10-year-old child are currently in hospital, according to police.

Toronto Police said on Sundaythefamily was "torn apart" in the wake of the crash.

Lehouillier's lawyer, Christopher Avery, told CBC News it's too early to say whether or not his client will be requesting bail. Avery said he isstill waiting for the Crown to shareevidence gathered in the hours following the crash.

Provincial vehicle records obtained by CBC News show the vehicle from the crash was listed under the name Dave Lehouillier.

When reached by phone Monday, Dave Lehouillier declined to divulge his relation to Ethan, but did say the incident was a "horrible tragedy."

"We're trying to spend time with family and piece things together," he said.

Young men hard to reach about impaired driving:MADD

The head of MADD Canada says it's important for key messaging in preventing impaired driving to reach young men.

"If impairment was involved … it's just really frustrating to keep hearing these stories, to keep hearing about another family who's been devastated by someone else's decisions," Steven Sullivan told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Tuesday.

"Given all the choices we have in society, especially in urban areas now, [as] alternatives to impaired driving … it's difficult to accept that people are still making these choices."

As of Tuesday afternoon, a GoFundMe page thathas since been set up to support the victims'sfamily through its losshas raisedmore than $143,467.

More public awareness needed:MADD

MADD Canada, or Mothers Against Drunk Driving, isa Canadian non-profit organization that aims to prevent impaired driving and support victims of it. Sullivan said while there is no "single solution" to impaired driving, a lot of work needs to be done to continue tackling the issue.

"More public awareness, more education, more enforcement. We just have to keep working to make sure that people understand that there are consequences to their actions," he said.

WATCH | Sullivanonissue of impaired driving persistingdespite educational campaigns:

Sullivan added that it's especially challengingfor the messaging to reach young men who are often more prone to risky behaviour.

"In their mindsthey're invincible. They're a little bit selfish. Perhaps they don't maybe think of long-term consequences. They're impulsive," Sullivan said.

"We have some pretty hard hitting messages that I think a lot of people are impacted by, about what can happen if someone drives impaired. I don't know that [it] resonates with young men. We've been trying to shift their message more to showing them positive choices."

Technology that tests sobriety could be 'game changer'

Sullivan said while all levels of governments could do more to get impaired drivers off roads, and public awareness and education remains key, he hopes that technology that tests driver sobriety can be a "game changer" inpreventing impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel.

"As we improve technology and cars, if we adopt anti-impaired driving technology that's being developed, that will really have a huge impact ondeaths and fatalities on ourroads," he said.

MADD has previously pushed the federal government to pass similar legislation to the U.S. after former president Joe Biden signed into law a legal provision requiring automakers to include anti-impaired driving technology in all new cars starting in 2026.

"No impaired driver ever thinks it's going to be them, but it's always somebody who ends up paying the price for somebody else's choices," Sullivan said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Sunday that the "person responsible for this heinous act needs to face the harshest punishment possible," in a post on X.

The crash comes five years aftera comparable incident in June 2020, when a driverstruck and killed a woman and her three young daughters in Brampton. The 21-year-old man wassentenced to 17 years behind bars.

It also comes nearly a decade afteranother impaired driver caused the deaths of three children and their grandfather in Vaughan in September 2015. The 29-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison andgranted full parole in February 2021.

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