Posted on 04/27/2014 5:22:00 PM PDT by rickmichaels
INNISFIL - A woman who held Brandon Majewski’s hand in his last dying seconds after he was struck and killed by an SUV says she will never forget that night.
“It’s not a memory I will ever forget,” said Melanie Lachance, 36, a school teacher who works in Vaughan.
Brandon, 17, and his two friends were out riding their bikes on the dark stretch of Innisfil Beach Rd. after 1 a.m Oct. 28, 2012. Brandon’s friend was seriously injured while another sustained only scratches. Police say they were riding side-by-side on the road.
Lachance remembers pulling over and seeing the red glint of bicycle reflectors from the busted bicycles in the ditch. She spotted one boy moaning in the ditch and her husband rushed to him. Another boy was panicked but unharmed, she said.
Then she spotted Brandon, laying in the middle of the road.
“He was right in the line of oncoming traffic … I held his hand, but there was nothing I could do,” Lachance said. “He took some gasping breaths. It hits you even harder later on.”
She says she recalls the driver’s “husband” suddenly appeared frantic at the side of the road and asked her their location so he could call police. She told him and he walked back to his wife’s vehicle.
“Then he was gone,” Lachance said. “I never saw him again.”
Alone, she attempted CPR but someone else with more expertise arrived and took over.
One thing continues to trouble her, she said, is why she and other witnesses were forced to remain at the scene for hours, until 5:30 a.m., as police conducted their investigation, while the driver of the vehicle and her husband were allowed to go home.
“That never sat right with us,” Lachance said. “It was very troubling … we always wondered why.”
The lawyer representing Brandon’s family who is now being sued by the driver is also looking for answers.
“Some things about the case aren’t making sense right now,” says Barrie lawyer Brian Cameron. “We are looking for answers so this family can find some peace.”
Brandon’s family remains confounded over why the woman who struck and killed him believes she is the one who should be financially compensated for killing their son.
Brandon’s estate, and his two friends, are all being sued by the driver, Sharlene Simon, formerly of Innisfil, for $1.35 million for emotional trauma she says she has suffered.
Even more confusing Cameron said, is the fact that the woman’s husband, Jules Simon, a York Regional Police officer, is also suing for $100,000 for damages and expenses incurred because of his wife’s suffering.
According to the police report and court documents, Jules Simon was following his wife in another vehicle the night of tragedy. But Cameron doesn’t know why he was following her, or where they were coming from.
“These are questions I’m hoping I can find answers to,” Cameron said.
The police report also states alcohol is not suspected and that Simon admitted to driving at 90 km/h in an 80 km/h zone. No charges were ever laid.
“The point is this family is suffering and no amount of money can bring Brandon back,” Cameron said. “But shedding some light on these questions will help bring closure for this family.”
Not saying that this is a brilliant legal strategy, but what’s not too prominent in the article is this is not a stand-alone suit, but a counter-claim in the negligence suit brought against the woman who hit the kids on their bikes. In the hope, I gather, of increased leverage so as to lessen the amount that the woman would pay in a possible settlement.
Also, why was this woman and her husband (a cop) allowed to leave the scene right away? Were they covering up a DUI?
That's what I got out of this article as well. I'm sorry for the kid but, this kind of reckless behavior by bikeists goes on all the time. I'm surprised there aren't more fatalities than there are.
I believe that the riding of bicycles on major thoroughfares after dark should be prohibited.
There is no way to compensate for the bizarre actions of cyclists in such situations.
There is the old saying that nothing good happens after midnight.
I thought I would get in before the “They were riding bicycles so they deserved what they got” posts showed up, but I see I am already too late.
hehe
Common law recognizes a ‘right of way’. On this topic all the Constitution-loving, common-law-referencing he-men get amnesia and demand government action to get the inconvenient out of the way.
“...this is not a stand-alone suit, but a counter-claim in the negligence suit brought against the woman who hit the kids on their bikes.”
Thanks for that detail which hasn’t made it through the “buzz” of the headline on this.
Still, it’s pretty loathsome and no, it makes no sense that the driver(s) were allowed to leave while witnesses were detained.
In 1997, a drunk woman’s little dog got tangled up under her brake pedal and she ran over and killed one of my best biker friends.
She successfully sued his family for her ‘mental anguish’.
“Even more confusing Cameron said, is the fact that the woman’s husband, Jules Simon, a York Regional Police officer, is also suing for $100,000 for damages and expenses incurred because of his wife’s suffering.”
This I do believe is lawyer code for “Not getting any sex.”.
how is that even possible?
I read the story and thought, ‘there must be some important relevant details missing here. You just explained it. Sleazy reporting here.
BTW, where the husband and wife were going is not relevant.
Where does it say in the article that the woman (who hit the kid) is being sued by his family?
“They were riding bicycles so they deserved what they got
Where do you live that cyclists ride in the rain after midnight “all the time”?
cops let the cop and his wife go...
then the cops say “riding side by side”... cops are not witnesses.. there were no witnesses other than those involved. so the cops take the cop’S wife’s story.. BAD ODOR WAFTING FROM THIS STORY....
the husband and wife left the scene..cops covering for a cop’s wife. she hit 3, and killed one of them.. now that’s a FACT.
The lawyers will get rich.
I have *no* idea how.
She totally beggared the guy’s widow who wound up losing her home.
Ironically, I ended up with nasty PTSD, having watched it all, even though I can’t consciously remember it.
[but when I sleep....]
Maybe I should’ve sued her and the widower of the *other* biker the woman hit, too.
[yeah, right]
It’s a twisted world.
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