Carly Charlebois, a St. Thomas More graduate, had a larger-than-life personality, a knack for fashion, and a way of making everyone around her feel special, according to friends and family.
Meghan Troback photo
Carly Charlebois was remembered by dozens of friends and family members who gathered Tuesday in a Brampton courtroom.
Jasmina Stankovic photo
Rama Pirakala, 42, of Oakville, also the co-owner of the restaurant Charminar in Burlington, was killed in a 2022 crash on the QEW.
Carly Charlebois, a St. Thomas More graduate, had a larger-than-life personality, a knack for fashion, and a way of making everyone around her feel special, according to friends and family.
Sunday would have been Carly Charlebois’ 22nd birthday.
Charlebois, who had a larger-than-life personality, a knack for fashion and a love of dance, would have celebrated the event with a night on the town, according to friends and family.
Instead, those who knew her best spent the week finalizing victim impact statements to honour the Hamilton woman killed in a 2022 impaired driving crash.
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More than 50 of her loved ones filled a hallway at the Brampton Courthouse on Tuesday, prompting officials to move the hearing to a larger courtroom. Charlebois’ mother, Cheryl Lewis, distributed T-shirts to those gathered, emblazoned with photos of her daughter at family gatherings and special events. Charlebois, who attended St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School and Fanshawe College, had just started a part-time job at Cabana Poolbar in Toronto prior to the crash.
Following a minor collision on the Queen Elizabeth Way near Cawthra Road on June 16, 2022, Ontario Provincial Police said Charlebois, Oakville businessperson Rama Pirakala, 42, and his male passenger were exchanging information on the roadside when Ministry of Transportation workers advised them to move to a safer area.
Lewis was on the phone with her daughter following the initial crash, around 10:30 p.m. Moments later, Charlebois’ car was struck from behind by a third vehicle. Charlebois and Pirakala died at the scene. Pirakala’s passenger sustained critical injuries.
On Feb. 12, Adel Al-Busaidy, 32, of Sables-Spanish Rivers Township, Ont., pleaded guilty to two counts of impaired driving causing death and one count of impaired driving causing bodily harm.
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On April 23, the court heard victim impact statements read by members of both families. Parties will return to court on Aug. 15, where counsel for the Crown and defence will make sentencing submissions.
Carly Charlebois was remembered by dozens of friends and family members who gathered Tuesday in a Brampton courtroom.
Jasmina Stankovic photo
Assistant crown attorney Enoch Guimond said the court received more than 30 victim impact statements from family and friends, with several read aloud in court on Tuesday.
While granting the August hearing date, Justice Alison R. MacKay noted families will be left waiting more than two years for justice.
Holding an urn containing her daughter’s ashes, Lewis addressed Carly and the defendant.
“Every part of me longs for her,” she said. “You stole her at only 20 years old. All the dreams I had for her are destroyed, because of you.”
“This was not an accident. It was a choice,” Lewis added.
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Brother Chase Charlebois said his sister never had the chance to meet her new niece, Harlow Carly Charlebois.
“You will never, ever be forgiven,” he said to the defendant.
Rama Pirakala, 42, of Oakville, also the co-owner of the restaurant Charminar in Burlington, was killed in a 2022 crash on the QEW.
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In her victim impact statement, Kalpana Pirakala called her spouse a devoted husband, father and entrepreneur. Pirakala was a co-owner of Charminar, an Indian restaurant in Burlington and volunteered with several charitable organizations.
“He would always help anybody who asked for help,” Kalpana said.
Kalpana struggled to tell her children, aged 3 and 9 at the time, that their father was gone.
“I had to explain to my son what a dead body was.”
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She recalled her three-year-old daughter saying, “Mommy, can you please ask daddy to come back for me?”
Kalpana added she feels like she’s aged 10 years since the crash.
She said her husband’s death also placed a financial strain on the family, forcing them to refinance their home.
“Justice for me, would be an eye for an eye,” Kalpana said in summation.
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