Loved ones of Carolyn Kelley, a Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre laboratory technician killed almost five years ago while standing at a Scarborough bus stop on her way to work, cried as they remembered a hardworking, cheerful, and happy woman at a sentencing hearing for the driver who was found guilty of dangerous driving causing Kelley’s death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm in relation to another pedestrian.
Reem Garabat told the court when her colleague didn’t show up at work on the morning of Nov. 9, 2018, and they couldn’t reach her, they knew something had happened.
“She was always the first one in the lab and one of the last to leave. After two hours of horror, we received the worst news we could ever imagine,” Garabat said.
It was just before 7 a.m. when Kelley, who was waiting at the bus stop at the corner of Ellesmere and Birchmount Roads, was struck by a Nissan Pathfinder that mounted the sidewalk. Kelley had no vital signs and was later pronounced dead. A 31-year-old man who was also standing at the bus stop received a serious leg injury but survived.
In May, Ontario Court Justice Jonathan Bliss found Carlene Nunes, who was then 46, guilty on both counts after a trial last winter. Bliss found that the personal support worker sped up as she approached the intersection travelling 96 km/h one second before the crash. Unable to get ahead of a vehicle in the passing lane, Nunes swerved to the right to avoid colliding with a car and two buses stopped in front of her. The posted speed limit was 60 km/h.
Brenda Barber, Kelley’s only sibling, recalled getting a phone call from her mother concerned because her sister failed to show up for work. After speaking with her, she saw a report on the news that a woman had been killed at Birchmount and Ellesmere roads. “I started to panic and I pulled myself together and headed out to my car. I turned the corner onto my mom’s street and saw the police cars. I ran into the house and asked the police officer if Carolyn was dead and he replied, “Yes.”
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Arthur said the delays in justice have added to her suffering. “They say time heals all wounds but being trapped in this almost five-year wait of not knowing what happened and why has been detrimental to my mental health.”
Both of Kelley’s two daughters spoke about how the negligent and reckless actions of the driver have robbed them of their mother, who raised them on her own from when they were school-aged.
“I can’t help but be angry on behalf of her. It’s not fair her life was cut short,” wrote Jennifer Kelley.
Sentencing submissions will be made at a later date.
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