Global News has learned the 87-year-old woman killed on Sunday night in Etobicoke after her car was struck by an alleged impaired driver was Edith Brezina.
Toronto police responded to a call of a two-vehicle collision around 6:15 p.m. near the intersection of Eglinton Avenue and Royal York Road.
Police said Brezina was driving her 2017 Honda Civic westbound on Eglinton Avenue when a 2003 Toyota Highlander travelling eastbound crossed into the westbound lanes and struck her head-on.
Brezina was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 28-year-old driver of the Toyota was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, where she was later downgraded to life-threatening.
As of Tuesday, she remains in hospital and has yet to be formally charged. Police have not yet identified her.
Investigators said she is facing charges including impaired driving causing death.
Police said Brezina was both a mother and grandmother who lived just blocks from where she was killed.
She was also a regular visitor at the Franklin Horner Community Centre in Etobicoke.
The executive director of the facility, Laura Latham, said she was shocked to hear that Brezina had been killed.
“We work with seniors. That’s our business here, Edith was one of our seniors here,” Latham said. “She came to a lot of our food programs. She would pop in and chat with my staff on a quasi-regular basis and she would take copies of all of our flyers and newsletters, and then I guess she would go home and decide which events she wanted to come to.”
Latham said she was worried about telling the other seniors about Brezina’s tragic passing.
“This is absolutely horrible, again, I see seniors who are living very vibrant lives well into their 90s who are driving, who are active, who are coming here — that is not old anymore.”
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