Danyang Song’s wife and three children were looking forward to spending more time with the hard-working 55-year-old plumber as he got closer to retiring from his role as the sole provider for the house.
In the early hours of a December morning in 2022, however, that dream was shattered when Song was killed on his way to work by a drunk driver speeding up the wrong side of Highway 401.
In an Oshawa, Ont., courtroom Tuesday, the family spoke about how Song was the pillar of the family, recalling how the Whitby man’s dreams were taken from him in an instant around 5 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2022.
Zehan Song, the eldest son, said that day was supposed to be a happy one. His father planned to work for half a day before returning home to begin celebrating the new year.
“Because of someone’s reckless decision to drink and drive, my father was involved in a wrong-way collision with a wrong-way driver on the highway,” Zehan told Ontario court Justice Peter West.
Jilly Song, Danyang’s daughter, spoke about her father’s love of gaming, his wife’s cooking and martial arts.
“He had so much hope for the future and was one of the most optimistic people that I know,” she said through tears. “He was the biggest victim in all of this and he doesn’t get a voice.”
Police were called to the scene of the crash on Dec. 30 just after 5 a.m., rushing to the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near Brock Road in Pickering.
Assistant Crown attorney Ngai On Young told the court that Shamar Gilkes, who was driving eastbound in the westbound lanes, showed complete disregard for public safety.
There were two collisions, the first with a Honda Civic and the second with Song’s Volkswagen. Young described a video that captured Gilkes’s black car travelling the wrong way.
“You see people blinking their lights at him but the vehicle continues non-stop,” Young told the court.
“There’s no reaction. There’s no breaking. The acceleration stayed steady until the moment of impact,” Young added, saying that along with killing Song, Gilkes seriously injured a 28-year-old police cadet who was on his way to police college.
Gilkes, who is now 27 years old, pleaded guilty in May to impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm and dangerous driving causing death.
Young suggested an eight-year sentence in prison and told West that aggravating factors included the fact that Gilkes was driving extraordinarily dangerously, “going 130-140 km/h the wrong way on the 401.” The posted speed limit is 100 km/h.
Young said Gilkes entered the off-ramp at Liverpool Road and proceeded eastbound to Brock Street. His blood alcohol concentration was 140 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.
“It was almost a certainty there would be a high-speed collision,” said Young, who called it an overwhelming case for the Crown.
Gilkes’s lawyer Josephine Baldassi initially suggested a conditional sentence, saying her client was a youthful first-time offender who had taken responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty. She also said he has great remorse for the incident. After West told her a conditional sentence was inappropriate in this case, Baldassi said a custodial sentence of four years would be appropriate.
West questioned Baldassi about how her client even ended up where he was at 5:05 a.m., driving onto the off-ramp at Liverpool Road. West said none of that had been explained.
The sentencing hearing will continue next week. The Song children and their mother say they will return to court to see justice done.
“I have so much anger and resentment. Why does my family, having done nothing wrong, need to carry this weight for the rest of our lives? Shamar Gilkes, I will never forgive you for what you did. Dad, we all love you and I miss you very much,” said Jilly, reading from her victim impact statement outside court.