Alexandra Gagné-Faucher, 31, was convicted of manslaughter and hit and run in the death of Stéphane Taillon, 53.
Alexandra Gagné-Faucher, the woman convicted of manslaughter by a jury for having run over a man during a fit of road rage in Laval two years ago, was sentenced Wednesday to a five-year prison term.
Superior Court Justice Éric Downs said that what Gagné-Faucher, 31, did after she deliberately struck 53-year-old Stéphane Taillon with her car should be denounced while explaining why he agreed to have her serve an 18-month sentence for the hit-and-run offence the jury also found her guilty of on June 14.
He ordered that she serve the 18-month sentence on top of a 42-month sentence for the manslaughter conviction. He noted that Gagné-Faucher sped off after she struck Taillon on Sept. 15, 2022 and then tried to camouflage the damage to her mother’s car.
“She also lied to her mother,” the judge said in reference to how Gagné-Faucher’s mother, Nancy Gagné, suspected something was wrong when she noticed that work had been done on her car while police were looking for a suspect in the fatal hit and run that took place on the service road of Highway 15 in Laval.
“Are you crazy? It wasn’t me,” Gagné-Faucher told her mother sometime before she was arrested.
The judge also noted there was evidence that Gagné-Faucher began searching for places to repair her mother’s car just six minutes after Taillon was struck. Her first call was to a company that specializes in car-window repair. This was followed by several calls to, or internet searches for, similar companies.
“She deliberately chose to flee the scene and to alter the vehicle,” the judge said.
The Crown had suggested that Gagné-Faucher serve six years in all.
The Crown’s theory of the case was that something happened on Highway 15 that angered both Gagné-Faucher and Taillon and they both exited the highway at the same time. Taillon got out of his vehicle and headed toward Gagné-Faucher’s. A witness told the jury it appeared Gagné-Faucher deliberately struck Taillon.
Defence lawyer Roxane Hamelin asked that her client be sentenced to two years less a day and that she be able to serve it in the community.
A pre-sentencing report prepared for the case did not paint a flattering portrait of Gagné-Faucher. She was originally from Abitibi before her family moved to Montreal. She dropped out of school at age 14 and worked two jobs at the same time before she started working in bars at age 18. She was a “shooter girl” at a bar before she worked at a massage parlour and as a prostitute.
The judge also heard evidence that Gagné-Faucher has been impulsive since she was a child and that she is a heavy consumer of cannabis.
While listing off the mitigating factors in the woman’s case, Downs said she appeared to show genuine remorse toward the victim’s family and she is considered a low risk of reoffending in the future as long as she seeks help for her behavioural problems.
Downs also ordered that Gagné-Faucher not be allowed to drive a vehicle for six years beginning on Wednesday.