On June 14, a jury found Alexandra Gagné-Faucher guilty of manslaughter in the dead of 53-year-old Stéphane Taillon.
The mother of a woman convicted of manslaughter in a road-rage case in Laval once said the one adjective to describe her daughter would be “impulsive.”
Alexandra Gagné-Faucher, 31, was convicted of manslaughter by a jury at the Laval courthouse on June 14. According to evidence heard during the trial, on Sept. 15, 2022, she and the victim, Stéphane Taillon, 53, were driving along Highway 15 in Laval when they began to pass each other in a reckless manner. At a certain point, after they exited the highway, they got out of their vehicles and exchanged words. Taillon ended up being killed and the Crown’s theory was that Gagné-Faucher ran him over with her car.
Superior Court Justice Éric Downs began hearing sentencing arguments on Monday at the Laval courthouse.
The first witness called to testify was Gagné-Faucher’s mother, Nancy Gagné, who turned out to be a very reluctant witness.
“I am not OK with this,” Gagné told Downs after her daughter’s defence lawyers objected to her being called as a witness.
Downs agreed with the prosecution’s request because Gagné had given a police statement about her daughter in the past. Downs said the mother’s testimony would provide context to her previous statement.
The mother then revealed why she was so reluctant to testify. Her statement to police was not a flattering portrait of Gagné-Faucher.
She confirmed that her daughter used to work as a prostitute before she changed jobs and worked in a massage parlour in 2011.
“What does this have to do with anything? This was in 2011,” the mother asked while replying to questions from one of the prosecutors in the case.
Gagné also agreed that she told the police that from an early age, the only adjective she could use to describe her daughter was “impulsive.” She broke down and sobbed while saying she also is impulsive and found herself constantly having to defend herself.
Gagné also confirmed that she told the police her daughter is a heavy consumer of cannabis. She conceded she smoked joints often with her daughter and that Gagné-Faucher was once consuming 28 grams per week but managed to reduce it to seven grams a week.
This report will be updated.