GUELPH – Dave Genereaux’s family and friends wept during a July 14 sentencing for a crash that claimed the Fergus man’s life.
Genereaux was driving an SUV on Highway 6 between Fergus and Guelph on the morning of Dec. 29, 2023 when Michael Shular swerved into Genereaux’s path.
Shular was impaired by fentanyl and methamphetamine at the time of the collision, which left Genereaux, a 40-year-old father, dead at the scene.
Police charged Shular with obstruction, drug possession, driving with a suspended licence, and impaired and dangerous driving causing death.
He pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death.
A joint defence-Crown submission proposed seven years behind bars, accompanied by a 12-year driving suspension.
Defence lawyer John Smart said the sentence is reasonable for Shular, but prosecutor Tom Meehan called it “an absolute minimum,” because of a previous impaired driving conviction in 2012.
Justice John Lynch noted the charge comes with a maximum life sentence, but maximums are rarely imposed.
Shular, a resident of of Tara, near Owen Sound, did not address court on Monday.
Smart said Shular wanted to speak but was “not in a position to do so” emotionally.
“He wishes for me to express to the Genereaux family his profound regret and sorrow,” Smart said.
Mitigating factors
Smart called Genereaux’s death a “tragic event” and “a serious and unfixable problem that has been caused by the criminal conduct of Mr. Shular.”
He described mitigating factors that included Shular’s guilty plea, medical issues and supportive family.
The guilty plea, Smart said, “was a genuine display of his remorse and an acceptance of responsibility” that Shular hopes brings “a measure of comfort” to Genereaux’s family.
Some in court shook their heads in disagreement.
Genereaux’s widow, Sabrina, previously told the Advertiser that while she’s glad Shular “owned up to it,” she worries that he did so just to get a lesser sentence, not because he feels remorseful.
“All the material would suggest that [Shular] had been racked with guilt since this event,” Smart said.
He added Shular’s remorse “is a significant factor for the court to consider when crafting the appropriate sentence.”
Smart described struggles in Shular’s life, not as an excuse, he noted, but to explain the 33-year-old’s circumstances.
“Mr. Shular has lived his adult life plagued by addiction and medical issues,” he explained.
Smart presented evidence that Shular has attended programming and counselling at Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, a specialized addiction services agency, since February 2024, and has also received withdrawal management support from Grand River Hospital.
He asked the court to consider Shular’s supportive family who “have very positive things to say about Micheal Shular as a person but are respectful and understand the need for the current sentence given the tragic consequences.”
Aggravating factors
Prosecutor Meehan called the aggravating factors “inescapable,” with the most extreme being the loss of Genereaux’s life.
He described the “remarkably powerful” impact statements made by Genereaux’s family and friends, and said his death will reverberate in their lives as long as they live.
Genereaux’s death was an “unspeakable tragedy” and he was only able to enjoy one Christmas with his newborn son, Jason, before his death, Meehan said.
Dave Genereaux, father to Jason and husband to Sabrina, died in a car crash on Highway 6 on Dec. 29, 2023. The other driver in the crash has been sentenced to seven years incarceration for impaired driving causing death. Submitted photo
Because of the significant impact, “the court has to impose a significant penitentiary term,” Meehan said.
At the time of the fatal crash, Shular was driving on a suspended licence, Smart noted, so, “He had no right to be on the road.”
And after the 2023 accident, “Shular made an attempt to divert blame,” Meehan said.
Judge’s conclusion
Justice Lynch said Shular initially denied that he had been driving the truck that hit Genereaux’s vehicle, claiming the driver fled the scene and headed into a field before officers arrived.
A witness on scene after the collision submitted a statement to police attesting that Shular had asked her not to tell anyone that he was the driver, Lynch added.
When Shular was taken to hospital due to a leg injury sustained in the crash, analysis of his blood showed “a number of substances,” including fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Lynch described Shular’s “difficult upbringing” including abuse, drug use, suicide ideation and post traumatic stress disorder.
He said Shular’s guilty plea is the most significant mitigating factor as it reduces court time and “more importantly” avoids the need to call forward witnesses, “continuing their trauma.”
Shular’s age – he was 30 at the time of the crash – is also a mitigating factor, Lynch said, as is the support of his family and the steps he has taken towards rehabilitation.
The most aggravating factor, Lynch said, is that “a life was taken.
“And it was a life well-lived and full of promises.”
Lynch referenced Sabrina Genereaux’s impact statement, noting that after six years of struggling to become parents, the Genereaux’s son, Jason, was born just eight weeks before Dave’s death.
He said Sabrina was well spoken on all that Jason would miss – never knowing his father or sharing life events with him.
Lynch also touched on the financial hardship Sabrina faces because of Dave’s death.
He said he would have hoped Shular’s 2012 impaired driving conviction would have served as a deterrent, but “in this case it was apparently not sufficient.”
It would have been no surprise to Shular that any of the substances in his blood would have impaired his ability to drive before the December crash, Lynch noted.
Perhaps he got behind the wheel as a matter of convenience, perhaps he opted to take a chance, or perhaps he put no thought into it at all, Lynch said.
He pondered what it would take to make people stop choosing to drive while impaired.
“One can only hope sentences such as the one to be imposed today will serve, at least to some, as a sufficient deterrent,” Lynch said.
He accepted the joint submission of seven years of incarceration, followed by a 12-year driving prohibition after release.
He also ordered a weapons prohibition for 10 years after his release, and for Shular to provide DNA samples.
Meehan said he has spoken with Genereaux’s widow and other family members at length. “They are crushed,” he said.
He noted the family is neither opposed to nor supportive of the sentence, but its members understand the need to follow precedent and are looking for closure and an end to this portion of the legal proceedings.
“They’ve been on a path of rebuilding their lives since the night that this happened,” Meehan said.
