Crown expert finds Quebec man accused of fatal Laval daycare bus crash not criminally responsible

A Quebec Crown prosecutor says its expert has concluded that a man accused of murdering two children and injuring six others after a city bus crashed into a Laval daycare should be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

Prosecutor Karine Dalphond told a judge today that the Crown and defence will now present their evidence jointly when Pierre Ny St-Amand’s first-degree murder trial proceeds this spring. 

The development means that instead of the jury trial scheduled to start in April, the evidence will be heard by a judge alone, who will make the final decision on Ny St-Amand’s criminal responsibility.

Ny St-Amand was arrested after a transit bus crashed into the front of a daycare in Laval, Que., on Feb. 8, 2023.

Dalphond said two psychiatrists have examined Ny St-Amand, and both reached the conclusion that he should be found not criminally responsible.

The trial is set to begin April 7 and will include a detailed recounting of the facts and evidence from both experts.