Men involved in Old Montreal fire that killed 2 plead guilty to reduced manslaughter charge
Two young men pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter for their involvement in an Old Montreal building fire that killed a woman and her daughter in October 2024.
Justin Fortier-Trahan and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez were initially charged with 2nd-degree murder
CBC News
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Two young men pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter for their involvement in an Old Montreal building fire that killed a woman and her daughter in October 2024.
Justin Fortier-Trahan, 22, and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 20, appeared at a Montreal courthouse on Tuesday. Fortier-Trahan admitted to setting fire to the building on Notre-Dame Street E. shortly after 2 a.m. on Oct. 4, 2024.
He took a photo or video of the flames before escaping in a getaway car driven by Hernandez Pelaez. The building housed a restaurant on the main floor and a hostel above it.
Léonor Géraudie, 43, and her daughter, Vérane Reynaud-Géraudie, 7, died in the fire. They were visiting Montreal from France.
Fortier-Trahan and Hernandez Pelaez were initially charged with second-degree murder following their arrest about a week after the fire.
People found guilty of manslaughter in Canada can still face life imprisonment, but Crown prosecutor Louis Bouthillier says that by taking the plea, the two avoided a mandatory life sentence that comes with a murder conviction.
"It would have been a hard-fought case," said Bouthillier, adding that a second-degree murder charge requires proving criminal intent beyond a reasonable doubt.
"The fact of the matter was that there was no sign telling the bystanders that a hotel was there on the premises, so it made our job a little difficult."
Fortier-Trahan and Hernandez Pelaez will return to court on Dec. 16.
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