NEWMARKET, Ont. — A drunk driver who killed three children and their grandfather in a horrific accident apologized to the victims' family Wednesday, although the kids' parents left the courtroom as he took the stand.
"I am tortured by the grief and the pain that I have caused the entire family," Marco Muzzo said in a brief but emotional statement to the court.
"I will forever be haunted by the reality of what I have done. I am truly sorry."
Muzzo, 29, spoke facing the court and occasionally looked up to face the crowd.
He pleaded guilty earlier this month to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm.
Nine-year-old Daniel Neville-Lake, his five-year-old brother Harrison, their two-year-old sister Milly, and the children's 65-year-old grandfather, Gary Neville, died after the van they were in was hit by an SUV in Vaughan, Ont.
Jennifer and Edward Neville-Lake, whose family was decimated in the crash, left the room as Muzzo took the stand and did not return until he was back in the prisoner's box.
In her victim impact statement, Jennifer Neville-Lake looked directly at Muzzo on Tuesday as she said his actions have shattered her world.
"I don't have anyone left to call me mom ... You killed all my babies," she said in a long and emotional speech before a packed courtroom. "I miss my kids, I miss my dad, I want my old life back," she said.
"I would not wish this horror I am living on anyone but you," she said. "You deserve to know exactly what it feels like to have every single child you created meet someone like you."
Muzzo's lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said his client is "grief-stricken."
The crash was the result of a "terrible decision made by a very good person," he said.
The Crown, meanwhile, compared Muzzo's actions to walking down the street with a loaded gun.
"It is time to send a message," Crown lawyer Paul Tait said in calling for a sentence of 10 to 12 years.
A psychiatric report filed with the court Wednesday said Muzzo is showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and mild depression.
Dr. Graham Glancy, who conducted the evaluation, said Muzzo shows "considerable remorse" and appears "distressed and tearful" at times, particularly when discussing the crash.
The psychiatrist said Muzzo told him he was stunned by the breathalyzer results, which court has heard were between two and three times the legal limit.
He said Muzzo recalled having three to four drinks on a plane before taking the wheel, but did not feel drunk.
In the psychiatric report, Muzzo expressed the desire to atone for his actions and reach out to the family whose lives he irreparably changed.
"I would apologize to them, ask for forgiveness, donate my time, write a blog, educate others, devote whatever I could, and do whatever I could," he told Dr. Glancy.
