The Oshawa man accused in the death of a 35-year-old father of three in a collision – after which he fled the scene – has plead guilty to multiple charges as his trial got underway on Monday.
Jaiwin Kirubananthan appeared in a Newmarket court on Monday morning and entered a guilty plea for dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and fail to remain where death ensued. Kirubananthan was 18 at the time of the incident.
The trial was expected to last at least a week, but after a delay of more than two hours, both the Crown and defence announced the plea deal.
Andrew Cristillo was killed in the crash between two vehicles on Highway 48, between St. John Sideroad and Ballantrae Commons on August 3, 2025. His three daughters, all under the age of eight at the time, suffered life-altering injuries. His wife Christina, who has been battling breast cancer for the past few years, was also injured.
As per the agreed statement of facts submitted in court, Kirubananthan was driving his father’s RAV-4 after leaving Sibbald Point Provincial Park.
He was heading south on Highway 48, where the speed limit is 80 kilometres per hour. However, at one point he was driving at 136 kilometres per hour and he also swerved into the northbound lanes while going south.
Later on, he overtook another vehicle stopped at an intersection. The two occupants of that car told officers they saw him in the wrong lane and speculated he was going to hit someone.
After going in the wrong lane again, Kirubananthan saw the vehicle being driven by Christina Critsillo. Both drivers swerved west to avoid each other and crashed head-on just before 9:20 p.m. that night.
The shocking crash was captured by surveillance video and people audibly gasped as it was played in the packed courtroom on Monday. Several people could be heard crying.
After Kirubananthan fled the scene, he was found nine hours later by an OPP drone laying down in a potato field about 150 metres away from the crash site. Two phones and his wallet were found in the vehicle. He had a seatbelt mark on his shoulder and a fractured pelvis when officers found him, but he initially denied being the driver of the vehicle.
The OPP confirmed to CityNews that Kirubananthan was also involved in another crash back in January, 2025 which involved an OPP vehicle that was driving Premier Doug Ford. He was charged with dangerous driving in that incident as well.
Cristillo family calls for meaningful, lasting change to dangerous driving laws
Following Cristillo’s death, his family launched a petition to urge the Ontario government to strengthen dangerous driving laws. The petition has garnered more than 43,000 signatures so far.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford met with Cristillo’s family last summer and pledged to bring forward legislation in response to the family’s petition.
The legislation, dubbed Andrew’s Law, was tabled in November and if passed, it would enact lifetime driving bans for those convicted of dangerous driving causing death.
The new law would also allow police to immediately suspend a driver’s licence for 90 days if they have reason to believe someone is driving dangerously, and impose increased fines.
“Such a sad situation, but people have to be held accountable and when you take a father away from their children, his wife, his family, they’re going to be held accountable,” Ford told CityNews at the time.
The legislation is currently making its way through Queen’s Park and is in the second reading stage.
Speaking to media outside the courthouse, Cristillo’s younger brother Jordan said passing the law is “common sense.”
“If you can’t be trusted behind the wheel, you shouldn’t be back behind the wheel,” he said. “When people are going over 200 kilometres an hour, hitting the premier of Ontario’s car and back behind the wheel in 30 days, clearly out system is failing us and it failed my brother.”
Jordan, along with family and supporters, gathered at the courthouse holding signs that read “Justice for Andrew = prison for Jaiwan.” As the trial got underway, Jordan made another appeal to lawmakers to pass Andrew’s Law as soon as possible.
“This crime – dangerous driving causing death – goes up to a lifetime in prison. However too often our sentences favour the criminals and not the victims and sympathy for the criminals is cruelty to the victims. We want to see a change to that starting today,” he said.
He asked for both justice to be served as well as lasting change to ensure no other family has to suffer through the grief Cristillo’s family has had to face.
“Nothing’s going to bring my brother back, we understand that. Justice means a couple of things to us. One is that we prevent future tragedies like what happened to Andrew from happening to someone else, so that his legacy becomes one of protection. And two that the individual that caused this is made an example of. Why? Because this crime wasn’t an accident. As Doug Ford said, it was murder.”
Kirubananthan will be back in court on June 22 and the date for a two-day hearing will be set. The judge will eventually hear submissions on how long his sentence should be as well as victim impact statements.
Kirubananthan has been in custody since August, 2025, and remains behind bars.
With files from Afua Baah and The Canadian Press
