Just over a two-year anniversary of the tragic incident which claimed the life of her youthful innocence, the court proceedings for Taylor Kennedy have been initiated. Under the scrutinizing gaze of the law, Kennedy is accused of fatal vehicular manslaughter whilst being impaired by the influence of cannabis. Her recklessness beyond the acceptable limits of THC concentration etched a tragic end for nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice’s life on the 9th of September, 2021.
In a tragic sequence of events, young Baeleigh found herself caught in the wrath of the wheels while on her way to Mayfair Community School, pushing her scooter across a crosswalk on 33rd Street West. She carried her broken body’s burden to the hospital, whence she was pronounced dead, a declaration echoing the melancholy the death of innocence often holds.
A toxicology examination of Kennedy marked the commencement of a legal nightmare for her, leading to charges of impaired driving and exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC resulting in death.
The trial was initiated with an overwhelming first piece of evidence – doorbell camera footage capturing the ghastly incident. As courtroom walls bore witness to the footage of Maurice’s dreams being crushed under the truck’s monstrous wheels, the courtroom resonated with a chilling silence, punctuated periodically by hushed instructions for minors to exit.
The alarming footage halted the progress of time, and then released it with an air of morbid reality. Maurice was flung across the crosswalk, bystanders rushing to her aid, as the black truck came to a guilty stop. Her family clad in “Justice for Baeleigh” attires had their tears serve as an aqueous tribute to her memory.
Kennedy’s demeanor reflected her circumstances as she sobbed in the prisoner’s box, hunched down, attempting to escape the accusing gazes of the courtroom.
Constable Blake Atkinson, the first official witness invoked by the Crown, recalled arriving at the scene, painting a vivid picture of the chaos, terror, and grief that had spread itself across the scene. According to Atkinson, the arrival of rightfully outraged citizens escalated Kennedy’s hysteria. She was trembling, hyperventilating, with shock constricting her blood and etching itself into her features.
Kennedy claimed to suffer from a biploar disorder, confessing past attempts at suicide and the use of marijuana, and psilocybin, a hallucinogenic, on the morning following the incident. However, despite taking a SoToxa drug test providing positive results for THC, questionableness surrounds the evidence due to Kennedy’s rights’ non-compliance by the officers.
Thomas Hynes, eminent defense lawyer shouldered the responsibility of providing Kennedy’s legal representation as the judge-alone trial prepares to resume the next day. The direction this trial takes will unravel in the upcoming days, shedding light on the tragic series of events that unfolded just over two years ago, forever stealing away the innocence of young Baeleigh Maurice.
