The parents of a The young man died while trapped in his body want a “severe” punishment against the driver who seriously injured his son in 2019.
Pierre Hoffmann, 51, was arrested by Judge Pierre-L. found guilty. Rousseau on three charges of driving with a blood alcohol level above the legal limit causing injury at the Quebec courthouse Thursday morning.
When he was driving his Jetta around 5:43 a.m. on August 18, 2019, trying to get cigarettes, he came across the vehicle driven by then 26-year-old Jeffrey Langlois.
The victim Jeffrey Langlois with his father Martin at the CHSLD in Saint-Gervais. Free photo
According to his parents, the young man was on his way home to Armagh in the company of two friends after taking part in the Grands Feux Loto-Québec the previous day.
Enormous suffering
According to the version upheld by the court, Hoffmann's vehicle veered off course on Monseigneur-Bourget Street, north of Highway 20 in Lévis, causing a violent collision that injured all occupants.
The police quickly detected an odor of alcohol on the suspect.
The young man was seriously injured and had lost all quality of life. He is unable to speak, stand up or feed himself, his parents say.
Photo Dominique Lelievre
“There was only a small part of him left. […] What he experienced was worse than death. Instead of dying immediately, he suffered enormously for three years,” explained his mother Céline Pelletier with emotion.
Jeffrey Langlois breathed his last almost three years after the events, in May 2022, at the CHSLD in Saint-Gervais.
“He showed us that he didn’t want to do it anymore [être nourri de force, NDLR]. He pushed the nurses away. We don't know how conscious he was, but we could see he was in pain…too much. The fact that we've basically stopped [de l’]“to feed him” because “it had become relentless,” his mother explains with difficulty.
“It's better that he died because he was so trapped in his body and mixed up so much that there was no life left for him.”
Even though drugs were found in his body, it was Pierre Hoffmann who caused the collision, the judge noted.
“It is important to us that the truth is told. It relieves us because I still hear that my son ran after him […] and that he caused the accident and that we are tired of hearing about it,” says the grieving mother, who wants “the verdict to be harsh” to prevent a repeat.
“Crazy” explanation
At trial, Hoffmann argued that he had consumed “no more than that” before the events. He nevertheless admitted drinking four beers, a glass of wine, gin and a “puff” of cannabis between 2pm the previous day and 4.30am while he and his partner had guests at their home in Saint-Michael.
However, it was calculated that the defendant had between 111 and 127 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood at the time of the tragedy. In 1999, the fifty-year-old was fined for driving while impaired, according to his criminal record.
The head-on collision occurred in the early morning of August 18, 2019 on Rue Monseigneur-Bourget in Lévis. Photo Agence QMI, Marc Vallieres
The man claimed he never left the lane and that it was the victim's vehicle that appeared to swerve moments before the collision.
“His explanation is unbelievable and I even call it far-fetched,” ruled the judge, who noted that the statement was “stitched with white thread” and “in no way” convincing.
The prosecution wants to prove that it was actually the accident that led to Mr. Langlois's death and that this fact must be taken into account when determining the sentence. For its part, the defense mentioned that there was “an objection at the moment” on this point.
Celine Pelletier says she wants to testify during the sentencing.
“He destroyed not only my son’s life, but the lives of our entire family. My son went through hell. The rest of us have also been going through hell since that day. “I want the judge to realize the gravity of what Jeffrey went through,” she said.
The case will be heard again in court on January 29th.
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