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From The Toronto Sun:
Parents weep for 'smart, good' son
Two charged in street-racing death
By JONATHAN KINGSTONE, Toronto Sun
They are two faces of overwhelming grief.
In the living room of her Scarborough home, tears streamed out of Adelaida Francisco yesterday.
She collapsed on a couch and into the arms of her husband.
Despair also gripped Sim Francisco, his face ashen and his eyes blank. They have just returned from the morgue.
Their first-born child, Steven, a kind, gentle 18-year-old, was walking home from Pope John Paul II Secondary School on Wednesday when he was killed by an SUV that crashed, allegedly during a high-speed street race.
TWO CHARGED
Two fellow 17-year-old students -- who classmates claimed had a history of driving aggressively -- have been charged in the deadly crash.
"They took my son," sobbed Adelaida, 41. "Twenty years down the road they may be responsible, but 20 years down the road where is my son?
"He's six feet under ground. He's not supposed to be there. He's supposed to be enjoying his life; he's in the prime of his life," said his devastated mother. "He was so smart, so good in computers. He told me, 'Mom, I'll make a lot of money for you.'"
Sim, also 41, said his son, who was in the last few months of high school, had been looking forward to college next year.
"Every day when he came home he liked to go to his computer," he said. "He's very straight. He doesn't make trouble for anybody."
Steven had left school early on Wednesday so his mother could take him to the mall to buy dress pants for a friend's birthday on the weekend.
He was walking on the sidewalk beside Ellesmere Rd. as a Ford Explorer and Mazda MX-3 raced toward him. Swerving to avoid another car, the SUV's driver lost control, sending the heavy sport ute barrelling into the helpless teen.
Unaware that her son lay dead, Adelaida passed the crash scene shortly after on her way to the family's home, just two blocks away.
She was waiting for Steven to arrive when police came to her doorstep to inform her of the tragic news.
"Those boys who were racing should have learned their lesson. Being stubborn, and being rough and being cool doesn't pay at all," she said angrily.
"It's so unfair. If they want to kill themselves, go ahead -- but not somebody walking by on the sidewalk.
"Steven had not done anything. He wouldn't even kill a mouse or a spider."
Steven adored his little brother, Timothy, and always put Sundays aside so they could play video games together, their mom said.
"When Timothy got hurt, Steven would hold him. That's how good he was to his brother.
"He doesn't even say bad words -- those f-words -- in front of his brother. Whenever his friends came over, he said, 'Be careful, guys, I have a seven-year-old brother here.' He was always protective of Timothy."
At Pope John Paul II school yesterday, two dozen grief counsellors comforted students. An assembly and mass were held.
'AS BIG AS IT GETS'
"This is a pretty quiet school," principal Joe Ravesi said. "We have incidents but nothing major, and this is pretty much as big as it gets."
Outside the school, Francisco's friends gathered in the rain, hugging and remembering the boy who "always had a smile on his face."
"He was the best friend you could want," said Juanito Aguil, 17. "He was the role model for being a friend."
"He gave you a reason to look forward to the week," said Oliver Siason, 18.
"He always made the best of everything."
Francisco adored cars and could rhyme off facts about almost any make and model.
"It's so tragic it had to be a car that killed him," Siason said.
Visitation for Francisco is expected to begin today at Ogden Funeral Home on Sheppard Ave., near Midland Ave. A funeral will be held on the weekend.
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Parents weep for 'smart, good' son
Two charged in street-racing death
By JONATHAN KINGSTONE, Toronto Sun
They are two faces of overwhelming grief.
In the living room of her Scarborough home, tears streamed out of Adelaida Francisco yesterday.
She collapsed on a couch and into the arms of her husband.
Despair also gripped Sim Francisco, his face ashen and his eyes blank. They have just returned from the morgue.
Their first-born child, Steven, a kind, gentle 18-year-old, was walking home from Pope John Paul II Secondary School on Wednesday when he was killed by an SUV that crashed, allegedly during a high-speed street race.
TWO CHARGED
Two fellow 17-year-old students -- who classmates claimed had a history of driving aggressively -- have been charged in the deadly crash.
"They took my son," sobbed Adelaida, 41. "Twenty years down the road they may be responsible, but 20 years down the road where is my son?
"He's six feet under ground. He's not supposed to be there. He's supposed to be enjoying his life; he's in the prime of his life," said his devastated mother. "He was so smart, so good in computers. He told me, 'Mom, I'll make a lot of money for you.'"
Sim, also 41, said his son, who was in the last few months of high school, had been looking forward to college next year.
"Every day when he came home he liked to go to his computer," he said. "He's very straight. He doesn't make trouble for anybody."
Steven had left school early on Wednesday so his mother could take him to the mall to buy dress pants for a friend's birthday on the weekend.
He was walking on the sidewalk beside Ellesmere Rd. as a Ford Explorer and Mazda MX-3 raced toward him. Swerving to avoid another car, the SUV's driver lost control, sending the heavy sport ute barrelling into the helpless teen.
Unaware that her son lay dead, Adelaida passed the crash scene shortly after on her way to the family's home, just two blocks away.
She was waiting for Steven to arrive when police came to her doorstep to inform her of the tragic news.
"Those boys who were racing should have learned their lesson. Being stubborn, and being rough and being cool doesn't pay at all," she said angrily.
"It's so unfair. If they want to kill themselves, go ahead -- but not somebody walking by on the sidewalk.
"Steven had not done anything. He wouldn't even kill a mouse or a spider."
Steven adored his little brother, Timothy, and always put Sundays aside so they could play video games together, their mom said.
"When Timothy got hurt, Steven would hold him. That's how good he was to his brother.
"He doesn't even say bad words -- those f-words -- in front of his brother. Whenever his friends came over, he said, 'Be careful, guys, I have a seven-year-old brother here.' He was always protective of Timothy."
At Pope John Paul II school yesterday, two dozen grief counsellors comforted students. An assembly and mass were held.
'AS BIG AS IT GETS'
"This is a pretty quiet school," principal Joe Ravesi said. "We have incidents but nothing major, and this is pretty much as big as it gets."
Outside the school, Francisco's friends gathered in the rain, hugging and remembering the boy who "always had a smile on his face."
"He was the best friend you could want," said Juanito Aguil, 17. "He was the role model for being a friend."
"He gave you a reason to look forward to the week," said Oliver Siason, 18.
"He always made the best of everything."
Francisco adored cars and could rhyme off facts about almost any make and model.
"It's so tragic it had to be a car that killed him," Siason said.
Visitation for Francisco is expected to begin today at Ogden Funeral Home on Sheppard Ave., near Midland Ave. A funeral will be held on the weekend.
