A Toronto dad committed suicide more than a year after the guy who murdered his three young kids was granted full freedom after only four years in prison.
In September 2015, drunk driver Marco Muzzo, now 35, murdered Edward Lake’s 3 kids, Daniel, 9, Harry, 5, and Milly, 2. Daniel died at the spot, while Harry and Milly died soon thereafter at a local children’s hospital after being certified brain dead. They close their eyes and they’re all they see, he told the reporters at the time. This is a nightmare that will not end.
During Muzzo’s sentence, Edward expressed his own suicide feelings and stated, because of him, they will live with this misery for the rest of their lives.
On Monday, June 20, Edward was discovered dead. He was 49 years old at the time. Gary Neville, 65, his father-in-law and the kid’s grandpa, were murdered in the tragic collision that perished his kids.
The children’s grandma, Neriza Neville, and great-grandmother, Joseina Frias, were both critically injured in the collision but recovered. The automobile was being driven by Neriza Neville.
Meanwhile, Edward’s wife, Jennifer Neville-Lake, said that she tried to commit suicide around the time her kid’s lives support was switched off, and that she had miscarriage at the same time.
Muzzo had just returned from his bachelor party in Miami via private aircraft when he ran a stop sign and t-boned the Lake family’s minivan. At almost 50 miles per hour, he crashed into the driver’s side.
He claimed to have consumed three to four cocktails on the plane. His blood alcohol concentration was approximately three times the legal limit.
Jennifer Neville-Lake, Edward’s wife of 16 years, announced his death on Facebook, writing, her kids’ father, Edward Lake, has been united with their kids so they can play together, forever. Thank you, Edward. Mahal kita is Filipino for I love you.
The eyes he shared with Harry are permanently closed, Jennifer said in her post mourning her husband’s death. Daniel’s curls will never glisten in the sunlight again, and Milly’s gentle grin will never slip over his lips again.
This evening, he was extremely grieved to hear of Ed Lake’s unfortunate passing, said York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween in a tweet. The Neville-Lake family’s losses are heartbreaking.’
In his statement, MacSween underlined the community’s support for the family.
Jennifer wrote in a different post immediately before Edward’s death: ‘Father’s Day 2022.’ This cannot be true. It’s not possible.’ Her statements were backed by a photograph of the tombstones of her kids.
Marco Muzzo was convicted to nine years and four months in jail, as well as a 12-year driving suspension, for the March 2016 collision.
He pled guilty to four charges of intoxicated driving resulting in death and two counts of impaired driving resulting in bodily injury.
It was the heaviest punishment ever imposed on a first-time drunk driving offender at the time.
Muzzo was previously convicted of public drunkenness and repeated speeding violations, according to reports. He was allowed day release in May 2020. The parole board delayed that release date to November 2020 and set a hearing to evaluate full parole.
Muzzo was required to refrain from drinking and live in a halfway home while on parole. During the court, the accused stated that he would never drink again.
Jennifer stated on Facebook at the time of his parole renewal in November 2020 that she was not shocked since she had learned to anticipate little from the judicial system altogether. She continued as the guy who shattered her family approaches joining his, she faces a holiday season that she no longer cherishes.
He was given full parole on February 2021. On June 18, 2022, he was fully released. Muzzo’s sentence is set to end in July 2025.
On that day, Jennifer said on Facebook, her numerous life sentences will never end.
Jennifer stated during the parole hearing about her own attempted suicides and said she was pregnant at the time of the crash and miscarried around the time her kids were taken off life support.
Criminals are eligible for full parole after serving one-third of their sentence, according to Canadian law. Before becoming eligible for full parole, prisoners must complete six months of day parole.
Muzzo was refused day parole for the first time in November 2018 after the board determined that he did not appreciate “the problem of impairment.”
Muzzo is the scion of a multibillion-dollar family construction company. A petition was started shortly after Edward’s suicide to have the Muzzo name removed from two Toronto-area hospitals that had received gifts from his family.
Mackenzie Health and Sickkids Hospital both informed they had no intentions to change the name.
After the crash that killed Edward Lake’s kids, the Sickkids Foundation donated in 2006, and Mackenzie Health donated in 2017.
Harry and Milly Lake were pronounced deceased at Sickkids Hospital.
In a statement issued through his attorney in 2020, Muzzo stated he was reckless and foolish when he chose to drink and drive. He’ll never be able to repair the harm he has done. He is going to have to live with this for the rest of his life.
Jennifer stated during his sentence hearing in 2016: She does not have anybody left to call her mom. He murdered all of his children. She misses her children and her father. She wants to go back to her former life.
Edward stated at the time that he was having suicide thoughts. He murmured that he is lost and devastated. That is how he feels.
Jennifer stated in 2019 that she missed being a mom ‘to living children.’
Jennifer described her oldest kid as a “proud ballet dancer and Scouts Canada member” in the same interview. Her kid, she claimed, had aspired to write a cookbook.
Harry, her middle child, had health problems after having both of his hands removed. Despite this, his mom characterised him as “happy-go-lucky” and “liked creatures, particularly bugs and worms.” He’d hold them in his hands and laugh at them, telling them jokes, she claimed.
Milly, her youngest child, she added, enjoyed being spun around by her dad. If Milly offered you her hand to grasp, you simply knew you were in her inner circle, and that would be accompanied by a hug and kiss from her, Jennifer added.
Jennifer founded the non-profit Many Hands, Doing Good in 2018 in reaction to the untimely loss of her kids. It uses art and music to deliver treatment.
Jennifer also backed a legislative review of Canada’s National Victims Bill of Rights in 2022, which was criticised for being ‘sporadic and inconsistent’ in helping families retrieve information, give protection, and rights to reparation in situations like hers, according to reports.
