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The man who was charged with failing to stop at the scene of a collision that killed a seven-year-old Ukrainian girl while she was crossing a street in Montreal more than a year ago pleaded guilty to the Criminal Code offence Thursday afternoon.
Juan Manuel Becerra Garcia, 46, appeared before Quebec Court Judge Pierre Labelle at the Montreal courthouse where he entered a guilty plea to the charge.
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Through a Spanish interpreter, he offered his “most sincere apologies” to the victim’s mother, Galyna Legenkovska, who was present in the courtroom.
On Dec. 13, 2022, Maria Legenkovska was on her way to school when she was hit by Becerra Garcia’s Jeep Cherokee in a school zone while she was walking near the intersection of Parthenais and De Rouen Sts. She was one of three Ukrainian siblings who came to Montreal with their mother to flee the Russian invasion. Maria’s mother and two siblings had arrived in Canada just months earlier.
Her father stayed in Ukraine to fight in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
Prosecutor Syvlie Dulude informed the judge that Galyna Legenkovska did not want to address the court on Thursday.
Dulude said that she and defence lawyer Éric Coulombe agreed on a common suggestion that Becerra Garcia receive a 12-month sentence that he can serve in the community. The prosecutor told Labelle that Becerra Garcia went to a Longueuil police station hours after he struck the girl and said he believed he was involved in a collision. He said he felt the impact but did not see the girl before or after it happened.
Labelle said he will make his decision, in writing, at a later date.
This report will be updated.
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