Shengquan Wang, a 19-year-old Chinese international student, pleaded guilty Tuesday to impaired driving causing death in a March 2024 crash that killed Fausto Plaza, a 54-year-old journeyman electrician. The guilty plea was entered before Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell in a downtown Toronto courtroom.
Drunk and speeding before fatal collision
Court heard that on March 11, 2024, after a night of drinking at a downtown party, Wang got behind the wheel of his leased 2022 dark green BMW M5 CS, which retailed at $165,000. He held only a G2 licence, which prohibits any alcohol in his system. According to the agreed statement of facts, Wang was driving along Lawrence Ave. W. near the Allen Expressway at more than 100 km/h in a 50-km/h zone when he mounted the curb. Police said he was trying to pass another vehicle when he lost control of the powerful sedan.
The crash occurred at 5 a.m. as Plaza had just left home and was heading to catch a bus in the early morning darkness. The horrific collision was captured on a Toronto Police security camera at the intersection of Lawrence and Varna Dr. Wang’s vehicle struck a guide wire attached to a hydro pole, rotated counterclockwise, and struck Plaza, throwing him into the roadway. The sedan ended up tangled in a fence. Plaza was rushed to hospital but died of blunt-force trauma.
No braking in final seconds
According to the crash data recorder, Wang’s car was travelling at 100 km/h moments before impact, and there was no braking in the five seconds before he struck the pedestrian. Police at the scene smelled alcohol on his breath, and he failed a screening device. Arrested and taken to 23 Division, his eyes were still glassy and he smelled of alcohol three hours after the crash, when he registered 109 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. A toxicology analysis revealed he would have had a blood-alcohol concentration between 110 and 160 at the time of the collision — up to twice the legal limit.
In a conversation captured by an officer’s body-worn camera, Wang told his older brother in Mandarin: “I just hit someone. I think I am screwed. I was driving an M5 CS and it is wrecked. Yes, I may have ruined my life.”
Victim’s daughter speaks out
Plaza’s daughter, Jessy, 30, watched the conviction via Zoom while cradling her baby, who will never meet her grandfather. “At least he pleaded guilty,” she said. “I feel a little bit more at peace that at least he’s taken responsibility for his acts and he’s conscious of what he did and what he caused.”
She contrasted her hard-working father with the young driver: Both came from another country — her father from Ecuador and Wang from China. But where her dad studied hard, became a well-respected electrician and contributed to his new society, Wang arrived and couldn’t abide by the most basic of laws. “What was this kid thinking?” she wondered. “We’ve all been young and done stuff, but to go out drinking and then drive and not see the consequences? My father always taught me that your acts always have a consequence. I wouldn’t make that kind of mistake.”
Sentencing delayed to February
Wang’s lawyer, Brian Greenspan, requested that sentencing be postponed to February after Wang’s exams. Jessy expressed frustration: “I get it, he’s young and has school, but it’s already been over two years. It’s not fair. I just want it over.” She said she trusts the judge to arrive at a just sentence and believes Wang is remorseful — at the preliminary hearing, he bowed before her while she wept. “I just want him to pay for what he did and to reflect on what he did,” she said, adding that she wants him deported after his sentence.
