The scene outside a daycare centre in Laval, Que. is shown on Thursday, Feb.9, 2023, after a bus crashed into the building, killing two children. The preliminary hearing for a man accused of driving a city bus into a Laval, Que. daycare, killing two children, will begin March 25.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
LAVAL, Que. – The preliminary hearing for a man accused of killing two children this year when a city bus was driven into a Laval, Que., daycare will begin on March 25.
Defence lawyer Julien Lespérance Hudon told a Laval court today that he plans to challenge the two charges of first-degree murder on the grounds that his client, Pierre Ny St-Amand, did not have criminal intent.
St-Amand, 51, who remains detained at a Montreal psychiatric hospital, appeared in court today by video conference.
Prosecutor Karine Dalphond says she plans to call about 10 witnesses during the four-day hearing, including a psychologist, a psychiatrist and St-Amand’s wife.
Dalphond says the hearing, which will determine whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, will take place north of Laval in St-Jérôme because a courtroom isn’t available in Laval.
A bus driver with the Laval transit corporation at the time of the crash, St-Amand was arrested after a city bus plowed into the front of a daycare on Feb. 8, killing two four-year-olds and injuring six other children.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2023.
