WATCH: In 1990, 14-year-old Paul McKinnon was struck and killed by a speeding police cruiser in Montreal. His father Wayne McKinnon tells the compelling story of his fight for justice after his son’s death.
MONTREAL — In 1990, Wayne McKinnon’s 14-year-old son, Paul, was struck and killed by a speeding police cruiser in Montreal.
You never get over it.
When he was told that there was no evidence to suggest that the police officer was speeding and no charges would be laid, in the wake of losing their son, he and his family had to collect evidence themselves in order to try to find justice.
READ MORE: Quebec police officer involved in 5-year-old’s death will not be charged
After a 5-year-old boy was killed after the car he was in was struck by an unmarked Quebec provincial police speeding through a residential area in St. Hubert, McKinnon shared the compelling story of his fight for justice after his son’s death in his own words.
“The circumstances were very similar: it was a young police officer in the car, they drove through a school zone. It was about a 120 km/h, about the same speed.
“My son was in the intersection on a green light and they ran through the red light and killed him.
Initially, no charges were laid
“The police did their investigation. They told us that it was unfortunate, but there wasn’t enough information or grounds for any kind of sanction against the policeman.
“We spoke to the Montreal Crown Prosecutor, who said there’s nothing here. His file was minimal, a few pages of stuff from the police report and that was it.
“He did not have enough evidence to press charges because nothing had been collected.
“How could there not be? There were over 100 people in the intersection.
“The Prosecutor still said ‘Well, I’ve made a decision and I can’t change it.’
- A ‘zombie’ virus is raging among raccoons. What to know
- N.S. couple felt they won ‘doctor lottery’ after years on wait-list. Now they’re back on it
- ‘Summer of discontent’ coming over public service in-office order: unions
- Family says infant killed in 401 crash leaves a ‘void that can never be filled’
“It’s not revenge. It’s just so wrong, you’ve just got to say, ‘This has got to stop.’ There’s just no reason for it.
“So finally, we went to Quebec City, to the Chief Prosecutor for the whole province. With the information we had, finally, he said yes, there is enough evidence here.
Police worked to find evidence to support officer
“We were still collecting evidence, and we were checking into some of the evidence that the police were supposed to be gathering, because they started to do something, a little bit.
“We found out that they were disputing the speed.
“We went to the expert that the police went to for automobile accidents like this. We didn’t interfere, we just said, ‘What did the police tell you?’
“When he revealed what they had told him, we said, ‘Well that’s not what happened.’ When we told him what did happen, he said, ‘Whoa.’
“We said, ‘He didn’t come to a full stop until he hit the next corner. He couldn’t stop.’
“We went through all these points, and finally the expert said, ‘Well, look, this is a problem.’
Feelings towards the police have changed
“I feel pretty bitter. It’s totally changed my viewpoint of the police service and the people who are in there.
“My assumption when I meet a police officer, or when someone talks to me about the police, is a negative impact, right away.
“There’s very little respect for the citizen, very little respect. In other words, you’re wrong, they’re right.
“If you challenge that, they form a little army, a little clique, and they basically stonewall you. After that, they can even be more menacing.
“Doing a 120 km/hour in a residential area? Does that make any sense to anybody? Even if you’re racing to a murder, it makes no sense. You’re not going to get there any quicker and you probably won’t get there at all.
“Not every cop does that, obviously and there are some intelligent people and there are a lot of worthwhile people there.
Has anything changed since?
“One of the things that came out of Paul’s death was that they put in a program that they had to have residential driving training.
Everyone knows the Paul McKinnon killing case.
“I don’t know the details of this case at all, but when I heard this, I thought, ‘Same old.’ They didn’t give that prosecutor enough information for him to press charges, criminal charges. The Ethics Committee found against MarKovic and he was criminally charged with criminal negligence. That’s a maximum sentence of 14 years, so it’s a serious charge.
On finding justice and moving on
“It’s certainly not an easy thing. It’s long, it’s hard, very, very hard.
It’s a long, tough thing to do.
“Identify that police officer. He is the guy. He can’t get away from it. They can’t get away from it. They’ll never forget that little boy. You never get over it. You never get over it. You can even tell by my voice, you just don’t get over it. You live with it. And that’s what that cop did. That’s what he did. That’s got to be brought so that other police need to stop and think.
“This is a deadly act. It’s not because he’s a cop. It’s got nothing to do with that. It’s the fact of what he did as a person. He is a person, responsible to the people he is with.
“You have to get on with life. We had two other children at the time. We were just lucky that we had a lot of community support. They gave a benefit concert to help afford the lawyer’s fees. The lawyer was very reasonable in his billings with us.
We were very very fortunate. We had a lot of support. Because you need it. You really need it.
When your child dies, it’s so hard. It’s just so wrong. It’s worse than you can imagine. It’s the worse thing that can happen to you. The absolute worst.”
Coroner’s report into Paul McKinnon’s death
Comments