Family of Ontario father of 3 killed in crash to attend trial of driver

Jaiwin Kirubananthan, accused of reckless driving after a fatal crash killing a father of three, is set to appear in court. Jon Woodward reports.

The man accused of dangerous driving in a crash that killed a beloved father of three, months after allegedly hitting a car carrying Ontario’s premier, is expected in court Monday.

The judge-alone trial of Jaiwin Kirubananthan will be at a Newmarket courthouse. And the family of Andrew Cristillo will be there to fight for his memory, a new road safety law, and seek justice, said his brother Jordan.

“Nothing’s going to bring my brother back. However, we want to make sure there’s accountability and consequences for actions like this,” Jordan said in an interview with CTV News on Sunday.

Jordan shared that he keeps a photo of himself and his brother when they were kids next to his bedside stand “to remind me every day to keep having his back.”

Jordan added that his brother used the same photo when he asked him to be his best man.

“It means a lot to me,” he said.

On Monday, supporters will bring family photos of Andrew, his wife Christina, and their three girls, Ella, Louise and Chloe, to the courthouse, as well as posters that outline the connection to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Jordan said.

Last August, Cristillo and his family were in their car on Highway 48 when they were hit by another driver. The 35-year-old patriarch died instantly.

His wife, Christina, pulled the girls from the crumpled vehicle and soon faced an uncertain future raising them as a widow while fighting breast cancer herself.

“Our world got flipped upside down. And some days you wake up thinking it’s all a nightmare, but then you quickly realize that no, this did happen. So each day seems to be a battle to put one foot in front of the next,” Jordan said.

Then 18-year-old Kirubananthan was charged with dangerous driving causing death and fleeing the scene.

It emerged he had faced a dangerous driving charge the January before, when he was accused of hitting the vehicle carrying Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Highway 401.

Kirubananthan did get a 30-day driving suspension for a Highway Traffic Act charge, but he was legally able to drive while awaiting that trial when he allegedly hit the Cristillos.

The premier moved to support what the Cristillo family calls “Andrew’s Law,” something that would immediately suspend a licence for those charged with dangerous driving, which is similar to what already happens with stunt driving and dangerous driving.

That law is moving through the legislature now, with a committee hearing in recent weeks.

Kirubananthan’s lawyer didn’t return calls Sunday.

A second trial on the crash with the premier’s vehicle is scheduled for another time.