A GoFundMe in honor of a Toronto woman struck and killed by a driver in Mimico has surpassed its goal of $15,000 that will go towards funeral costs “as well to her children that are now without a mother.”
On March 31, first responders were called to the intersection of Lake Shore Boulevard West and Superior Avenue, near Humber Bay Park, just after 5:30 pm, following numerous calls for pedestrians struck.
Police said a white SUV was driving eastbound on Lake Shore Boulevard at a high rate of speed when it ran a red light and struck two pedestrians in the crosswalk. The SUV then hit a flatbed tractor-trailer parked in the middle of the roadway as part of a construction zone, ejecting the driver, who later died.
The GoFundMe identified one of the pedestrians killed that day as 43-year-old Kelly Hamilton, a mother of three children.
Family friend Sabrina Szuszwalak, the woman behind the fundraiser, described Hamilton as “a young beautiful, smart, funny, selfless woman who put others first and whose smile lit up the room.”
“She was loved by many and is leaving behind her three children and countless family and friends who will miss her dearly,” Szuszwalak wrote. “All proceeds will be going to cover the funeral costs as well as to her children who are now without their mother de ella.”
Szuszwalak says funeral details “will be posted soon” for anyone who wishes to attend. Hamilton’s sister has asked that those in attendance wear a purple item to honor Kelly “as purple was her favorite color de ella.”
Driver in fatal Toronto crash had seizure behind the wheel, kept driving: police
Last week, police confirmed the driver had a seizure during a previous collision moments earlier but got back in his vehicle and kept driving.
The 36-year-old man, who police don’t intend to identify, was subject to a Canada-wide Criminal Code driving prohibition and a provincial driver’s license medical suspension, as well as an additional administrative provincial driver’s license suspension.
Superintendent Scott Baptist called the investigation “complex and multi-faceted” and revealed that the driver’s federal ban was “related to a criminal code conviction.”
“We think it’s important that the public understand that the individual driving this vehicle, who caused this collision, was prohibited from driving on any road in this country,” Baptist said of last week’s fatal crash.
Baptist said numerous witnesses have already spoken with police, but officers are still hoping to talk to anyone else who may have seen either crash.
The superintendent did not provide details on the previous conviction but said it wasn’t connected to a fatality.