A driver who drove wildly in hopes of finding an open McDonald’s in the middle of the night admitted fatally hitting a young nurse in Brossard last year and cowardly fleeing.
• Also read – Hit-and-run in Brossard: a mother who cannot grieve
Clarissa St-Armand Dell was struck by a van traveling at high speed at approximately 4:20 a.m. on the night of June 24, 2022. The at-fault driver then left the scene of the accident without providing any assistance to the pedestrian.
The young 25-year-old nurse had no chance and died immediately.
For his part, José Luis Raymond was found and charged a few days later. On Monday he admitted his wrongdoing under the watchful eyes of about twenty relatives of the victim who were present at the Longueuil courthouse.
Clarissa St-Armand Dell archive photo
The 34-year-old man pleaded guilty to failing to stop after a fatal collision and dangerous driving causing death.
Clarissa St-Armand Dell had the misfortune of crossing paths with the defendant, who was driving wildly at the time of the impact and was looking for a fast food restaurant that was open early in the morning. In the hour before the collision, José Luis Raymond had tried to go to a McDonald’s five times.
Almost double the limit
During his trip, he drove up to 90 mph on the Champlain Bridge, where the speed limit is 80.
Barely two minutes after leaving the McDonald’s at Dix30, he mowed down the victim, who was crossing the Boulevard de Rome near Rue Lautrec at the same time.
The driver was traveling at almost 90 km/h. The speed limit in this area is 50 km/h.
A young woman lost her life after being hit by a van on the Boulevard de Rome, at the corner of Rue Lautrec, in Brossard, Montérégie, on Friday June 24, 2022. THIERRY LAFORCE / AGENCE QMI Photo Agence QMI, Thierry Laforce
José Luis Raymond didn’t stop and then stormed away from the scene of the accident, this time at 130 km/h in a 30 km/h zone.
The defendant was then betrayed by debris from his damaged vehicle found at the scene of the tragedy. Thanks to the identification number that corresponded to part of the radiator grille, investigators from the Longueuil municipal police were able to trace it back to him.
His vehicle was impounded the day after the tragedy. The defendant then went to Cascades Park in Rawdon to spend the afternoon with friends.
Subsequently, the police also confiscated his phone, from which they obtained valuable information that allowed them to determine the chronology of his evening, the places visited and his speed of travel.
“It’s easy”
Photos of him taken hours before the tragedy also confirmed that he was indeed behind the wheel at the time of the collision.
In fact, he was wearing a cowboy hat in photos he found on his cell phone and in surveillance camera images. The same hat was in the passenger seat when the vehicle was impounded.
However, this cell phone was confiscated without a warrant, suggesting that this evidence would not have been admissible in the event of a trial.
The hearing at which the summary of facts was read out was very emotional. Several of the victim’s relatives wore a sweater with a photo of Clarissa.
Stevens Dell, the uncle of Clarissa St-Armand Dell, wore a sweater with a photo of his late niece during his visit to the Longueuil courthouse on Monday, November 6, 2023. MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
“It is cowardly to abandon someone you have just beaten. He could have caused more casualties,” lamented the victim’s uncle, Stevens Dell, as he left the room.
The opinion on the judgment will come before Judge Marco LaBrie in a few months.
The crown is represented by Marie-Soleil Leclerc and the defense by Mélanie Brochu.
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