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The truck driver charged in the death of a 52-year-old grandmother killed after his vehicle collided with a TTC bus in 2013 has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Forty-three-year-old Vincente Arbis was found guilty by a jury in December 2016 of criminal negligence causing death in the killing of Manoranjana Kanagasabapathy.
On August 13, 2013, Kanagasabapathy was stepping into a westbound TTC bus, at the corner of Steeles Avenue East and Middlefield Road in Scarborough, when she was struck and killed by the delivery truck driven by Arbis. About a dozen others were also injured including the bus driver.
READ MORE: Man charged in fatal TTC bus crash released on bail
At the sentencing hearing for Arbis Monday, Assistant Crown lawyer Michael Savage told Justice Kelly Wright that Arbis “crossed the centre line intentionally and attempted to make a cell phone call while doing so causing an egregious accident.”
Kanagasabapathy’s brother, Kandiah Kanagarajah, read three victim impact statements on behalf of his family and said his sister was the centre of their lives.
“Who would have thought some reckless driver could take away her life,” he said wiping away tears, adding she also took care of her elderly mother and cared for her husband.
VIDEO: Raw video from scene of crash (Aug. 13, 2013)
In the husband’s victim impact statement read by Savage, he explained on the day she was killed, she had left home at 10 a.m. and said she was going to a Hindu temple then a TD Bank where she worked.
“I have not been able to recover from the shock and grief that gripped me when the Toronto police came up at 3 p.m. and told me that Manoranjana died,” he said on behalf of her husband.
Arbis, a father of three, has been out on $50,000 bail since the day of the crash. Police said he had no prior criminal record.
READ MORE: One dead, 12 injured in TTC bus collision
Outside court, Arbis’ wife Mericar Arbis told Global News she stood by the defence that was rejected by the jury that Arbis had “blacked out” that day behind the wheel.
She added Arbis did not “intentionally” try to run the red light and doesn’t know how the family will cope if he is sent to jail.
READ MORE: Police seek witnesses in fatal TTC bus collision
Mericar said she and her husband immigrated here from The Philippines and have three children together. She added they have no other family in Canada to rely on.
In addition to his prison sentence, Arbis also faces a 10-year driving ban.
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