Bus driver accused of intentionally crashing into Laval, Que., daycare will undergo psychiatric evaluation

Doctors will evaluate the mental state of Pierre Ny St-Amand, the bus driver accused of intentionally ramming a Laval daycare with a city bus, killing two children, to determine whether he is fit to stand trial. 

St-Amand appeared at the Laval courthouse on Friday morning shackled and accompanied by four special constables, two of whom held his arms in the prisoner’s box. His hair was messy and his eyes drooped and closed during his appearance. He struggled to stand and shuffled slowly when he was brought into the room. 

His defence lawyer, Julien Lespérance Hudon, asked Quebec Superior Court Justice Carol Richer to order a psychiatric evaluation, which the judge granted. The evaluation is to be conducted by the Philippe-Pinel institute, a Montreal psychiatric hospital, before next Friday, Feb. 24, when St-Amand is scheduled to appear in court again.

Lespérance Hudon said that some days he was able to communicate with St-Amand. He said he had an hour-and-a-half conversation with him on Thursday, but today, he told the judge, motioning to St-Amand, the accused was completely non-communicative. 

Last Wednesday, St-Amand, a Laval transit bus driver, plowed his bus into the Garderie Éducative de Sainte-Rose at around 8:30 a.m., just as parents were dropping off their children.

St-Amand was subdued at the scene by parents who said he was agitated, delirious and tearing off his clothes. He was then arrested by Laval police.

He is facing two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm.

Two young children, Jacob Gauthier and Maëva David, died in the crash and six others were injured. 

Karine Dalphond, the prosecutor, said after the court appearance that the request for a psychiatric evaluation was solely made by the defence.

“What we understand is that the defence lawyer was meeting his client in the past days and [St-Amand’s] state was very variable and was again today, as we saw,” she said.

The psychiatric evaluation will seek to determine whether St-Amand is able to understand what is happening in the trial and whether he can communicate with his lawyer. If the professionals at the Philippe-Pinel institute determine that he is unable to do these things, he will be declared unfit to stand trial, after which the judge may order that he undergo treatment or remain in custody with periodic reviews of his mental state until he is deemed fit.