Man who killed teen while racing on Quebec highway gets full parole
Board finds Francis Lawrence has low risk of reoffending after 2021 crash that killed 15-year-old Veronica Gashi.
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Despite showing signs he is having trouble adapting to life outside a federal penitentiary, a man who killed a 15-year-old girl while he was high and street racing along Highway 40 in the West Island has been granted full parole.
In a decision made last week, the Parole Board of Canada granted Francis Lawrence, 31, full parole on the 54-month sentence he received at the Montreal courthouse on Feb. 1, 2024. He was granted the release despite how his employer reported that Lawrence did poorly and was fired from his workplace while he was out a day parole.
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According to a written summary of the decision, his case management team, the people who prepare an offender for a release, pointed out that “some of your limitations (on the job) were due to the consequences of your head injury (suffered in the crash), which sometimes make it more difficult to perform certain tasks.”
The decision also notes that Lawrence was married inside a federal penitentiary during September 2024 and that the relationship appears to be going well.
According to the Crown’s theory of the criminal case, on March 20, 2021, Lawrence’s Audi was racing with a black Honda Civic just before it caused the crash that killed 15-year-old Veronica Gashi.
The Sûreté du Québec’s investigation revealed Lawrence was travelling between 160 and 200 kilometres per hour. The fatal crash occurred near the St-Charles Boulevard exit in Kirkland. The two passengers in Lawrence’s Audi were seriously injured.
Lawrence also suffered injuries that left him in a coma for a long time. Tests done after he arrived at a hospital revealed he was driving with twice the legal blood-alcohol limit.
A few months later, he was charged with several counts related to the crash. On Feb. 13, 2023, he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
“The board believes that your discharge plan is realistic and tailored to your needs,” the parole board wrote in the decision made on Aug. 7. “It will allow you to implement your active job search plan, which will constitute a protective factor both in terms of the self-esteem you will derive from it and the source of income that could result from it, although you are not experiencing significant financial difficulties at this time.
“Thus, taking into consideration your low risk of reoffending and the conformity you demonstrate regarding the supervision framework imposed on you to date, the board believes that the time is right for you to access a less restrictive form of freedom.”
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