A Quinte West man was found guilty of all four charges in relation to a head-on collision that killed two women in 2021.
Madam Justice Kristin Muszynski said that Aysar Younes who was 23-years-old at the time of the collision was guilty on all four charges which included two counts of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of impaired driving causing death in a Belleville Courtroom on Friday, March 7, 2025.
Families of both victims (22-year-old Rebecca Beatty of Quinte West and 23-year-old Anastasia Collins of Belleville) along with relatives of Younes were in the courtroom as Justice Muszynski read her decision which took approximately two-hours.
The trial was initially to have been by judge and jury, but Younes reelected to have the trial by judge alone which was held in January.
Court heard that on October 3, 2021 Younes was driving his uncles GMC Yukon westbound on Old Highway 2 in Trenton.
Beatty was driving a Nissan Versa with Collins being a passenger.
Justice Muszynski said both ACM’s (airbag control modules) which determine speeds, braking, throttle percentage and steering inputs were removed from both vehicles.
Through evidence in the Nissan by OPP Traffic Collision Investigators it was determined that Beatty tried to avoid the GMC that was in her lane, but the collision happened “in the blink of an eye” said one witness during the trial and that there was no way the driver of the Nissan could have avoided the collision.
On Sunday, October 3, 2021 at approximately 12:25 p.m. Younes was driving westbound on Old Highway 2 by CFB Trenton when it “drifted over the centre line” and into oncoming lanes and striking the Nissan Versa vehicle head-on. The two women were pronounced dead at the scene.
Younes was taken to Kingston General Hospital trauma centre and was released later that evening.
The road where the collision took place was straight and the speed limit where the collision took place was 60 kph.
Everyone involved in the collision were wearing seatbelts.
The collision took place in the left, eastbound lane of Old Highway 2.
OPP Investigators found no evidence of either vehicle braking prior to the collision.
The ACM recorded five seconds of data from the Nissan prior to the collision.
The data confirmed from five to two seconds before the collision the Nissan was traveling at 71 kph and no brakes were applied. At one second before the collision the Nissan was traveling at 70 kph and the brakes were being applied and the steering wheel was at -12 degrees to the right (indicating the driver was possibly swerving to avoid the collision).
At .5 seconds before the collision the Nissan was traveling at 55 kph, was not accelerating, the brake switch was on and the steering wheel was at -52 degrees to the right.
At the time of the collision, the Nissan was traveling at 54 kph, the brake switch was on and the steering wheel was at -34 degrees to the right.
The ACM on the GMC recorded information indicating at 2.5 seconds to 2 seconds before the collision the GMC was traveling at 98 kph. From 1.5 to 0.5 seconds before the collision the GMC was traveling at 99 kph. The brakes were never applied.
The Driver Perception Response time indicates that a driver requires 1.5 to 2 seconds to formulate a response.
“In this case, the driver of the Nissan started reacting to a situation at one second prior to the deployment of the airbags. Based on the engagement of the brake switch at that time and the steering to the right. Based on the speed of travel and that a hard brake was applied the Nissan would have required 3.34 seconds to stop the vehicle. The driver of the GMC would have required 4.45 seconds.”
Justice Muszynski said evidence showed there was no indication the driver of the GMC engaged the brake.
“At one second before the collision the driver of the Nissan engaged the brake, reducing the speed of the vehicle and steered to the right.”
“The driver of the Nissan did not have adequate time to respond to the threat of the collision before the impact occurred.”
“By the time the GMC came over the centre line, there was nothing Ms. Beatty could have done to avoid the crash.”
Several witnesses interacted or observed Younes immediately after the collision. He appeared confused and to one person he stated he was the passenger, but no witnesses observed any kind of impairment or smelled the odour of alcohol.
While Younes was being transported by paramedics to Kingston General Hospital, he was asked if he had consumed any drugs or alcohol.
Younes responded that he had used cocaine but couldn’t recall when it was and later responded he wasn’t sure if he had used cocaine.
Paramedics did not detect the odour of alcohol or that Younes was slurring his words.
After arriving at Kingston General Hospital court heard that, among other things, there is standard bloodwork that is completed for trauma patients – that includes testing for alcohol.
A doctor who was treating Younes at Kingston General Hospital asked him how the collision happened.
The doctor’s notation read, “prior to accident, patient states he had been drinking etoh (ethanol) until 4:30, plus had used cocaine. Note that while driving motor vehicle he was very tired, plus struggling to stay awake.”
Younes was discharged at 10:29 p.m. from Kingston General Hospital.
During the trial witnesses testified that Younes and approximately 12 friends gathered at a cottage north of Kingston on October 2/3 for a birthday celebration.
Everyone was drinking alcohol, but one witness testified no one stood out as being overly drunk.
Younes left the party around 9 a.m. on Sunday and stopped at another friends house at approximately 9:40 a.m. The friend testified during the hour long visit, she did not detect any odour of alcohol and he did not slur his words. This was approximately two-hours before the fatal collision.
After obtaining a warrant for the blood vials at Kingston General Hospital they were transferred to the Centre of Forensic Sciences for testing.
The BAC (blood alcohol concentration) at CFS was 110 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The BAC at KGH was 112 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
With the estimated time of the collision at 12:25 p.m. on October 3, it was determined the BAC would have been approximately 110 to 142 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
The legal limit is 80 milligrams alcohol in 100 millilitres blood.
There were also drug screening tests done and confirmed indicated cocaine use in the days leading up to the collection sample.
“The timing of cocaine consumption and the amount of cocaine consumption cannot be discerned by the blood screening.”
A medical witness testified that impaired involves the effects of alcohol on the brain and may not necessarily be physically observable.
“Unlike impairment which happens within the brain, intoxication depends on a persons tolerance to alcohol.”
Justice Muszynski concluded, “considering the totality of the evidence I have no doubt that Mr. Younes’ ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired by alcohol and that the impairment materially contributed his ability to operate his vehicle by impacting his judgement while driving with respect to speed, distance, attention, vigilance, reaction time and decision making capacity. I am therefore satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Younes impairment was a contributing cause of the collision resulting in the death of the victims.”
Regarding the two charges of dangerous driving causing death, Justice Muszynski stated, Younes voluntarily drank alcohol at a cottage north of Kingston until the early morning hours of October 3.
“Shortly before 12:30 p.m., although feeling fatigued, he did not stop driving on the roadway with two-way traffic, undivided by a road median. In this condition and with a BAC in the range of 110 to 142 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood impairing his ability to drive – he drove at excessive speed, almost 100 kph in a 60 kph zone on a flat, straight roadway before crossing two solid centre lines of traffic into oncoming traffic, without braking and reaction into the path of the victims small vehicle.”
“Given the totality of the circumstances I am satisfied the only reasonable inference is Mr. Younes driving conduct represents a marked departure from the standard of care that a reasonable person would have observed in the accused circumstances. In reaching this conclusion I have considered that a reasonable person would have surely understand the risk to public safety and have taken steps to avoid driving on a undivided highway during the daytime, at a high speed, while fatigued and impaired by alcohol.”
“I find Mr. Younes guilty on all counts of the indictment.”
Quinte Assistant Crown Attorney Mike Lunski presided over the case. Younes was represented by Craig Bottomley and Allison Shields.
The matter has been put over to April 17 where a full-day will be set for sentencing.
Update – Quinte West OPP – Victims Identified in Fatal Collision in Trenton
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
