Mother of 3 children killed in Vaughan crash speaks

The woman who lost her three children and father in a horrific three-vehicle crash last month in Vaughan, Ont., says her primary focus is on her grieving family, not the man now facing impaired driving charges in connection to the collision.

"No matter what happens, we have no family left," said Jennifer Neville-Lake outside the courthouse in Newmarket, Ont., this morning. "The children were our future … they're no longer here."

Marco Muzzo, 29, of King Township, who is facing charges of impaired driving causing the deaths of Neville-Lake's three children and her father, had a brief court appearance.

Two days after what would have been his wedding day, Muzzo was supposed to have a bail hearing at the Superior Court of Justice at 50 Eagle St. W., Newmarket. The proceedings have been put off until Nov. 12 at the request of his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, so Muzzo remains in custody.

On Sept. 27, a mini-van carrying six members of Brampton's Neville-Lake family, including three children, their grandfather, grandmother and great-grandmother, collided with a black SUV driven by Muzzo at the intersection of Kirby Road and Kipling Avenue north of Kleinburg just after 4 p.m. ET. Lake's mother and great-grandmother are recovering from their injuries

Daniel Neville-Lake, 9, his brother Harrison, 5, their sister Milly, 2, and their grandfather, 65-year-old Gary Neville were all killed.

Outside the courthouse Monday, Jennifer Neville-Lake said when this happened, "that's when our interest in everything judicial ended."

Though she felt she needed to be at the courthouse today.

"I wanted to come and I wanted to see the man, allegedly the reason why we don't have children anymore," she told reporters outside the courthouse.

It was not the first time her family had seen Muzzo. Neville-Lake remembered the accused buying an apple "at Metro from Daniel last year that he was selling as a first year Cub," and had seen him at other times at a local grocery store.

In the aftermath of the crash, she said she's had to shelve her own emotions.

"If I allowed myself to succumb to my feelings, the grief that I'm feeling, my children would probably still be at the coroner's office."

Neville-Lake said her mother requires regular hospital appointments requiring ambulatory assistance that is costly.

A fundraising page has been set up for the family and she said they have been overwhelmed by international messages and support.

"I have over 9,000 messages on Facebook that I'm trying to answer, each and every one, thanking them for thinking of us," she said, "My email's blown up. Random people all over the world are calling us. They are sending us letters to the church and to the funeral home.... They are all just sending messages of love and support. That really helps us."

Her 91-year-old great-grandmother, who was also in the crash, has a head injury. She hasn't seen her yet and added that she has been unable to tell her that the children are gone.

"She lived with my dad for almost 30 years, so she relied on him, so there's a lot of questions of, 'where's Gary, where's the kids?' We're worried about her."

The family expressed faith in the justice system and said that Muzzo's next court date, on Nov. 12, has "a very very special meaning in my family," as it would have been her parents' 38th anniversary.