An 18-year-old man charged in a crash involving Premier Doug Ford has pleaded guilty to charges he was facing in a fatal collision that occurred months later.
In a Newmarket courtroom Monday, Oshawa’s Jaiwin Kirubananthan pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, fail to stop at an accident causing death and three counts of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.
His plea came as a surprise as Monday marked the beginning of Kirubananthan’s five-day trial for the Aug. 3, 2025, crash in Whitchurch-Stouffville that killed 35-year-old Andrew Cristillo.
Public mischief, which Kirubananthan pleaded not guilty to, is expected to be withdrawn.
Cristillo’s family and friends gathered outside of court Monday to demand changes to Ontario’s laws; after it was revealed Kirubananthan, who allegedly collided with Ford’s OPP vehicle in January, the Ford government introduced a broad justice bill that, if passed, would impose a lifetime driving ban for those found guilty of dangerous driving causing death.
It would also see a 90-day administrative licence suspension plus a seven-day vehicle impoundment where police have grounds to believe dangerous driving occurred.
Bill 75 passed second reading on March 25 and is currently before the Standing Committee on Justice Policy.
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According to the agreed statement of facts, Kirubananthan left Sibbald Point Provincial Park in his father’s Toyota RAV4 in the evening of Aug. 3, travelling “in a dangerous manner and well above the posted speed limit” on Highway 48, cutting in and out of traffic in opposite directions.
At 9:17 p.m., Kirubananthan steered his vehicle into the northbound lane of Highway 48 while continuing to drive south. After doing so, he realized that a collision with a vehicle travelling north in the northbound lane was imminent; he braked and steered to the west.
Almost simultaneously, Christina Cristillo, who was operating a Nissan SUV northbound, braked and also steered to the west.
“Less than a second after Mr. Kirubananthan applied the brakes, his vehicle smashed into the northbound Nissan SUV in an angular, offset head-on manner roughly in the center of the roadway,” the agreed statement of facts read.
“Mr. Kirubananthan’s RAV4 SUV was travelling steadily at 139 km/h between 4.6 seconds and 1.6 seconds prior to the collision; its speed at impact ranged from 127 km/h to 130 km/h. The Nissan SUV was travelling steadily at 77 km/h to 79 km/h between 5.0 and 1.5 seconds prior to the collision; its speed at impact was 69 km/h.”
Kirubananthan’s vehicle came to rest in the ditch on the east side of the roadway, resting partially on its passenger side with neither of the driver’s side tires touching the ground. The Nissan SUV rotated and stopped in a ditch on the west side of the roadway, resting partially on its side and partially on its roof.
Andrew was trapped in the front passenger seat; he was unconscious and could not immediately be extracted. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:04 p.m. A post-mortem exam determined that the cause of death was multiple trauma.
Christina had been able to escape the vehicle, and Good Samaritans were able to remove two children; a third was rescued by emergency responders; each of the children were taken to hospital.
Court will resume on June 22 to set a date for a sentencing hearing.
— With files from Isaac Callan and Colin D’Mello
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