‘Gone in an instant’: Widow of Andrew Cristillo speaks at dangerous driving sentencing

The widow of Andrew Cristillo, killed by a speeding driver who fled the scene, gave an emotional victim impact statement in a Newmarket courtroom Tuesday.

Christina Cristillo told court the crash that claimed the life of her 35-year-old husband on Aug. 3, 2025, has robbed their three young children of a loving and devoted father and left her without a best friend who supported her in her battle against stage four breast cancer.

“He was my hero. He was also the girls’ hero. We called him our superhero dad,” Christina said.

She said the couple had known each other for 25 years, having met when Andrew was 11 and she was nine, explaining that he was best friends with her brother and they both competed in Tae Kwon Do.

“My girls and I were in that wreck. We lived in the moment of the car being destroyed. I cannot bring myself to even look at footage of the crash. It gives me nightmares” said Christina, her trembling voice heard on an audio recording, as a photo of the family of five was displayed on TV monitors in the courtroom.

“The future we planned together was gone in an instant. In a single moment, we lost the person who was the heart of our family. The trauma of surviving the crash that took Andrew’s life is something we carry with us every day,” said Christina.

The victim impact statement was read out at the sentencing hearing for Jaiwin Kirubananthan. In April, Kirubananthan pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and failing to remain at the scene of an accident causing death.

On Aug. 3, 2025, Christina Cristillo was driving northbound in a Nissan SUV on Highway 48 in the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville with her husband in the passenger seat and their three daughters in the back, when Kirubananthan, who was travelling southbound in a Toyota RAV4, crossed the median and struck the Cristillos’ vehicle head on.

The Cristillos’ SUV came to a rest in a ditch on the west side of the roadway, resting partially on its roof.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Kirubananthan’s RAV4 was travelling steadily at 139 km/h between 4.6 and 1.6 seconds prior to the collision. The speed at impact ranged from 127 to 130 km/h.

The posted speed limit was 80 km/h.

The Cristillos’ Nissan SUV was travelling steadily at 77 to 79 km/h between five and 1.5 seconds prior to the collision. Its speed at impact was 69 km/h.

The facts state that within seconds of the collision, a vehicle containing occupants who saw Kirubananthan’s vehicle speeding earlier on Highway 48 arrived at the scene. The driver of this vehicle, accompanied by another individual who had stopped, approached Kirubananthan’s vehicle.

They found the driver’s side door open but there was no one in the vehicle. While they were standing near the RAV4, they heard Christina Cristillo’s cries for help. She had been able to escape from her vehicle but the other occupants could not.

Andrew was trapped in the front passenger seat and was unconscious. He was pronounced dead on scene.

The couple’s three children, seven-year-old Leah, six-year-old Chloe and four-year-old Ella were extracted from the vehicle and transported to hospital. Leah suffered a broken wrist, a laceration from her forehead to her eye and a concussion. Chloe suffered a broken toe and extensive bruising. Ella suffered a broken femur and tibia and a laceration on her forehead that extended to her eye.

Nearly nine hours after the crash, the OPP deployed a thermal imaging drone to assist in the search for the occupants of the RAV4. Kirubananthan was found hiding in a potato field 150 metres east of the collision scene and identified himself only as “Jaiwin”. The 18-year-old was arrested.

Christina told court that she and her children had to take an ambulance to hospital after the crash without their father.

“My girls kept asking about Andrew and where he was and whether he was going to visit them in hospital. I had to share with my babies that their daddy was no longer with them because he went to heaven,” she said.

“Every day is a struggle to navigate without him. I live with overwhelming grief, sadness and heartbreak. The future we planned together was gone in an instant,” said Christina.

Andrew Cristillo’s father Danny Cristillo told court in his victim impact statement that he and his wife now have to do much of the driving for the grandchildren, since Christina is unable to drive.

“This could have been worse. All five could have been killed in the vehicle,” said Danny.

“Your actions have not only destroyed my son’s family where three little girls will grow up without a family, you have handed a life sentence of grief to our family. More than 45,000 people have signed a petition calling for increased penalties for dangerous drivers, people who are moved by what happened to Andrew. A GoFundMe campaign was established to support Christina and the kids, the public response was extraordinary,” said Danny.

Christina also delivered a victim impact statement on behalf of the couple’s three children, via an audio recording which was played in court.

She said that a photo of Andrew in a picture frame with a candle next to it sits at the head of the table.

“Every time the girls make something, they run up to his nightstand and display it there,” Christina said in the children’s victim impact statement.

“As their mother, one of the hardest things is knowing I cannot give them back what was taken from them. I cannot replace their dad. Their lives were divided into before and after that day. The effects of this accident did not end when they left the hospital. They continue every day as they grow up and encounter each milestone without their father beside them,” said Christina on the children’s behalf.

Kirubananthan is still before the courts on unrelated charges after a car he was allegedly driving hit an OPP vehicle in Premier Doug Ford’s motorcade on Highway 401 on Jan. 8, 2025.

In November 2025, the Ford government tabled a bill called “Andrew’s Law” that would introduce a lifetime ban on those found guilty of dangerous driving causing death

The sentencing hearing continues.