A 43-year-old Kitchener woman has pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and bodily harm in connection with a fatal head-on crash in Markham last November.
Court heard Carolyn Nielsen was driving more than 123 km/h in a 60 km/h zone and had over three times the legal blood alcohol limit when her SUV crossed the centre line on Highway 7 East and collided with another vehicle. The crash claimed the life of 68-year-old Lloyd Kuo-Ling Szeto, while his wife suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to hospital.
Investigators found Nielsen conscious inside her vehicle with signs of alcohol impairment. Police also recovered an empty bottle of Underberg, a partially consumed bottle of vodka, and an unopened bottle of vodka that had been purchased earlier that evening.
Szeto was remembered as a dedicated husband, father, and hardworking provider who loved baseball. Nielsen is scheduled to be sentenced in late August.