Judge declares accused in fatal Quebec daycare bus crash not criminally responsible

LAVAL — A Quebec Superior Court judge has declared a man not criminally responsible for killing two children and injuring six others when he drove a city bus into a Montreal-area daycare in 2023.

Justice Éric Downs on Tuesday accepted the joint conclusion from the Crown and the defence that Pierre Ny St-Amand was unable to discern right from wrong at the time of the fatal crash.

Psychiatrists for the Crown and the defence both concluded Ny St-Amand was likely experiencing psychosis on the morning of Feb. 8, 2023, when he drove the bus into a daycare in Laval, Que., killing four-year-old Jacob Gauthier and a five-year-old girl named Maëva, whose family name is covered by a publication ban at the request of her parents.

One psychiatrist testified that 53-year-old Ny St-Amand had untreated post-traumatic stress disorder from his childhood as an orphan in war-torn Cambodia and might have targeted the daycare as a way of “killing his own past.”

The former city bus driver had been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, as well as assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm in relation to six other children who were injured.

“Today, the accused is not acquitted, nor is he released. He is found not criminally responsible due to mental disorder,” Downs read from a 41-page decision at the Laval courthouse.

“This verdict is weighty in meaning and consequences. It is recognized that the accused caused the alleged acts. It is recognized that at the time of the acts, the accused was suffering from a mental disorder, rendering him not criminally responsible, within the meaning of criminal law.”

The court has ordered that Ny St-Amand remain detained at a Montreal psychiatric hospital. The judge will hear victim impact statements during a hearing on Thursday.

Outside the courtroom, Sébastien Courtois, the father of one of the young victims who survived, said it was difficult to hear the ruling, even if parents were aware it was coming.

“They promised possibly a trial with potentially heavy sanctions and then, little by little, the inexcusable is excused,” Courtois said. “Throughout the entire hearing, the word ‘guilty’ was never heard, we only heard the term ‘non-responsibility.'”

In his ruling, Downs said the question as to why Ny St-Amand rammed the bus into the daycare is left unanswered. “Unfortunately, the incomprehension in the face of the inexplicable remains.”

“It is undeniable that the bus driven by the accused struck the daycare and that it was not an accidental act,” the judge added.

“However, with regard to the accused’s state of mind, the court is convinced that, in this case, the accused was suffering from a mental disorder.”

According to documents filed in court, Ny St-Amand was born in Cambodia in 1972, shortly before the Khmer Rouge began a brutal rule that is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people. Both his parents died in the conflict, and he doesn’t know his real surname or birthday. He was moved to different refugee camps under the guardianship of a cousin, who also died. He was physically assaulted by the cousin’s wife, who strung him up by his feet and beat him. In 1982, he was sent to Canada by a humanitarian agency and adopted by a Quebec family.

Dr. Sylvain Faucher, the prosecution’s expert, told the court that Ny St-Amand’s past and lack of close personal relationships, even with his partner and adopted family, meant that he was poorly equipped to cope with stressors. Those stressors included a costly family trip planned to Disney World and his impending marriage to his longtime partner, which required him to examine his past to prove his status.

“There’s been a lot of emphasis on trauma between the ages of zero and five, the defence is all about that,” Mélanie Goulet, a mother of one of the survivors, told reporters outside the courtroom. “But it’s paradoxical because our children also experienced trauma (in that age range) … what does that mean for their future?”

Prosecutor Simon Blais said he appreciates that parents might be frustrated with the decision. “Obviously we are with them with all our hearts, we are faced with a difficult decision rendered by the judge today,” Blais said. “But we are doing everything we can so that the security of the public is ensured and that these victims, their security is also ensured.”

After the judge’s decision, prosecutors Karine Dalphond and Blais formally filed a motion to have Ny St-Amand declared a high-risk offender, a designation that would impose stricter rules around absences from any treatment facility. It would also require any decision taken by the provincial mental health tribunal to be confirmed by a Quebec Superior Court judge.

Véronique Talbot and Julien Lespérance-Hudon, lawyers for Ny St-Amand, said they intend to challenge the motion to have their client labelled a high-risk offender.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press