Tevon Bacquain sentenced 5 years for fatal hit-and-run in Westboro

Article content

Tevon Bacquain will serve a five-year prison term for fatally striking a Westboro man with his car in a hit-and-run while Bacquain was fleeing police.

Franco Micucci was 46 when he was struck and killed while crossing Richmond Road on April 15, 2023, when the car driven by Bacquain swerved into Micucci and hit him from behind.

Police had observed Bacquain, 22, in the midst of a hand-to-hand drug deal in the Carlington neighbourhood minutes earlier, and he was stopped on the roadside by two marked cruisers.

Article content

He initially stopped for police, then drove around one cruiser and sped west on Carling Avenue before making the turn northbound onto Kirkwood Avenue, travelling at a high rate of speed towards Richmond Road.

After crashing into Micucci, who was crossing at a pedestrian crosswalk on a green “walk” signal with his wife, Bacquain sped away again, continuing north on Kirkwood.

His windshield smashed by the impact, Bacquain abandoned the Honda Civic in a grocery store parking lot.

He texted his mother and told her to report the car as stolen — “now now now,” he urged her — in an attempt to escape responsibility.

He was arrested that evening, hiding in a backyard about one kilometre from the crash scene.

Micucci died in hospital six days later.

On Thursday, Ontario Court Justice Marlyse Dumel rendered a five-year sentence and imposed a weapons ban on Bacquain. He will be under a driving ban for five years from the date of his release.

Bacquain has been in custody since his arrest and has already spent 418 days behind bars. He will get credit for 627 days of pretrial custody, according to the court’s calculations, and will have approximately three years and four months left to serve.

Article content

The judge expressed her “deepest condolences” to Micucci’s grieving family.

“Please know that the sentence I impose today is not a reflection of the value of Franco Micucci’s life, nor of the magnitude of your loss. It is what I conclude to be a fit sentence after weighing the sentencing principles and the case law.”

Bacquain was asked to stand while the judge delivered her sentence.

“I accept that you are profoundly remorseful for your actions,” Dumel told Bacquain. “However, this was not an accident. You made several choices on April 15, 2023, that were reckless and displayed a total disregard for others … with tragic consequences.”

Assistant Crown attorney Hart Shouldice had called for a six-year sentence.

Shouldice noted Micucci’s family was “dissatisfied” with the range of sentences available for the charge and invited the judge to impose a stiffer sentence than the one the Crown was seeking.

Bacquain pleaded guilty to fleeing the scene and failing to stop, causing death. He was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death. He was also found guilty of federal charges of possessing hydromorphone, a Schedule 1 illegal substance.

Article content

A search of the car revealed a “snorting straw” with white residue, loose currency and plastic packaging that was ripped to pieces and also contained traces of white residue.

Bacquain was sentenced to 12 months for possessing for the purpose of trafficking 29 hydromorphone pills, a synthetic heroin. That sentence is to be served at the same time as his sentence for fleeing the scene.

Police were cleared of any wrongdoing by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which found officers had called off the pursuit well before the deadly collision.

Bacquain’s lawyer, Joseph Addelman, had argued for a sentence of between 24 and 30 months.

Addelman cited Bacquain’s youth and his guilty plea as mitigating factors, while also highlighting Bacquain’s mental health issues, substance abuse problems and the bullying and racism he faced as a mixed-race person.

The judge said she was not satisfied that Bacquain’s experience with racism — and his fear of police — were factors in his decision to flee from officers who were not pursuing him. The judge said racism played no role in Bacquain’s decision not to stop after fatally striking Micucci.

Article content

Dumel cited the devastating effect Micucci’s death had on his wife and family, as illustrated in emotional victim-impact statements read into the court record in April.

“You will never have the benefit of my absolution for what you did to my husband, my family and our friends,” Shirlene Byne said to Bacquain at the April sentencing hearing. “You will not have the privilege of my mercy because you certainly showed none for Franco.”

Micucci was a man whose life revolved around his children, Byne said, one who made strangers feel welcome and his family feel protected.

“Not once in our two decades together did he ever let me walk on the outside side of the sidewalk,” she recalled. “Franco’s capacity for kindness, compassion, generosity, humility and love was endless. That’s what made him truly unique in this self-centred world.”

ahelmer@postmedia.com

Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.

Article content