A 26-year-old man charged in connection with a fatal crash near Cambridge that claimed the life of a mother and critically injured her infant son made a court appearance today.
According to Ontario Provincial Police, the collision happened on Highway 7/8 near Trussler Road in Wilmot Township at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the woman, identified as Susana Dumitru, and her two-month-old son George were passengers in a vehicle that was rear-ended on the highway.
The woman was initially rushed to hospital for treatment but succumbed to her injuries. Police said her baby sustained critical head injuries and was rushed to SickKids Hospital where he underwent surgery on Monday.
There were two others in the vehicle, believed to be the woman’s husband Razvan and mother-in-law, sustained minor injuries in the crash, Schmidt said.
A woman who as at the hospital when the victim’s husband arrived described the scene to CTV News Toronto Monday.
“Right outside our room, (we) just started hearing crying, sobbing…” Christina Battick said. “Just seeing this man completely destroyed, just having him say, ‘I lost everything. I have no reason to live’ -- it tore me apart.”
Ahmed Darwish, 26, was arrested on scene and has since been charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death, two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, one count of impaired driving causing death, two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, one count of failure to provide a breath sample and one count of failure to submit a drug evaluation.
He made an appearance in court in Kitchener today for a bail hearing where he was remanded in custody until a second court date on Dec. 5.
The highway was closed for several hours as police cleared the scene. It reopened at around 2 a.m. Monday.
Police are urging anyone who may have witnessed the crash or anyone who has dashboard camera footage of the area at that time to contact the Cambridge OPP.
WIth files from CTV Kitchener
