A Windsor college student who was reportedly driving more than 200 kilometers per hour when he crashed in Lambton County in 2019, killing three classmates from India, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in Sarnia on Wednesday.
A Windsor college student who was reportedly driving more than 200 kilometers per hour when he crashed in Lambton County in 2019, killing three classmates from India, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in Sarnia on Wednesday.
Jovanpreet Singh, an international student from India and member of Windsor’s Sikh community, pleaded guilty to charges Wednesday in a virtual court appearance, a spokesperson with the Ontario Crown Attorney office in Sarnia said.
Singh, 22 at the time of the crash, had originally been charged with three counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, dangerous operation causing bodily harm, three counts of criminal negligence causing death, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and obstructing a police officer.
CTV News reported Wednesday that Singh pleaded guilty to three counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
According to reports, assistant Crown attorney Ryan Iaquinta said Singh drove his BMW at a high rate of speed while driving four friends. While passing another vehicle on the winding rural roadway, the BMW reached speeds of 210 kilometers per hour.
The battered car came to rest in a grassy field beside Oil Heritage Road, about 40 kilometers southeast of Sarnia, after rolling several times in the fatal crash that happened just after 1 am, police said.
A number of vehicles stopped by the side of the road after the crash to help, police said at the time.
The three 19-year-old victims – Tanveer Singh, Gurvinder Singh and Harpreet Kour – were from the Indian state of Punjab and were studying business at St. Clair College. They weren’t wearing seatbelts, police said in a 2019 news release.
A special service for the three students killed in the crash was held at a Sikh temple in Windsor on Oct. 6, 2019.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 4, the Crown spokesperson said.