Adriana Joaquim flips through an album of photographs of cities around the world that three Brampton children will never get to see.
Joaquim attended school with Jennifer Neville-Lake, a mother who lost her three children and father in an impaired driving crash in September 2015.
“I came up with the idea for people around the world to take pictures holding up a special note and I decided I would collect them and give them to her,” Joaquim said.
“Because I’m a mother myself and I can’t even imagine going through what her and Ed went through.”
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The note reads “The memories of Daniel, Harry and Milly are lighting up the entire world and shining brightly here.”
Daniel, nine, Harrison, five, and Milly, two, along with their grandfather Gary Neville, 65, were killed in the Vaughan, Ont. crash exactly two years ago.
The children’s grandmother, Neriza Neville, and great-grandmother, Josefina Frias, were also seriously hurt in the collision.
On the two-year anniversary of the crash Jennifer Neville-Lake took to Facebook to post about her feelings.
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Neville-Lake wrote “I hear the word “accident” when people talk about the crash that killed my family and I want to scream.”
“Please, please do not use the word ‘accident’ when speaking about their deaths because that removes the responsibility of how and why my children died from the drunk who killed them.”
Twenty-nine-year-old Marco Muzzo was sentenced to 10 years in prison on four counts of impaired driving causing death and two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm.
It is expected that he will apply for an unescorted temporary absence (UTA) from prison in October. Offenders must have served a portion of their sentence before being eligible to apply for a UTA. Muzzo was reportedly moved from medium to minimum security last week.
READ MORE: Marco Muzzo says Neville-Lake family lawsuit should be reduced in crash that killed 4
“The fact that he’s been reclassified into a lower security only acknowledges that he is not a traditional criminal,” says Criminal Defence Lawyer Daniel Brown, who does not represent Muzzo.
In minimum security, there are no armed correctional officers, no electronic surveillance equipment, and minimal restrictions on movement, association and privileges.
Since the deadly crash, York Regional Police said the problem of impaired driving has not slowed down.
“We’ve been doing everything we can to keep the messaging out there, the dangers of impaired driving not only by alcohol but by drugs yet the numbers just don’t seem to be going down,” Const. Andy Pattenden said.
READ MORE: Marco Muzzo: 10 years in prison for drunk driving crash that killed 3 kids, grandfather
Joaquim, an old school mate of Jennifer Neville-Lake, points to a photograph in the album she spent months assembling.
It’s from a country far from Brampton, a place the Neville-Lake children will never get to see. It has flowers.
Joaquim said the children loved flowers, so she tried her best to incorporate as many flowers as she could into the album she hopes brings some comfort to a couple whose lives have been torn apart.
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