‘I’m gonna go to jail’: Killer driver’s haunting words after crash
The P-plater behind the wheel during a horror crash that killed five teens was heard screaming from the wreckage, it has been revealed.
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The P-plater who killed five teens in a horror accident at Buxton was speeding at nearly 150km/h and filming himself hooning in the lead up to the horror crash, which continues to ripple through the tight-knit community.
Tyrell Edwards is facing the prospect of years in prison after he on Thursday entered guilty pleas to a string of serious charges over the accident which shocked the state.
He entered court while being shielded from cameras by a group of supporters holding Bunnings umbrellas before pleading guilty to five counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death with speed more than 45km/h over the limit.
“Guilty your honour,” Edwards told Magistrate David Degnan before he was taken into custody and transferred to prison to await sentencing proceedings.
Each charge carries a maximum 14 years in prison.
According to a statement of agreed facts, Edwards was speeding at 117km/h in a 60 zone moments before losing control, sending four of his victims hurtling from the wreckage.
Victims Summer Williams, Antonio Desisto, Gabriella McLennan, Lily Van de Putte, and Tyrese Bechard were all pronounced dead at the scene.
Friends and families of the victims also packed into the tiny court on Sydney’s southwestern outskirts and later hugged and wiped away tears after hearing Edwards admit he was responsible.
Outside court, Lily’s father John Van De Putte said he, like the families of the other victims, was struggling to move on with his life.
He said he woke up every morning thinking of his daughter and urged parents around the country to speak to their children about being safe on the road.
It’s a message he is attempting to drive home through his foundation, Think of the Five, Arrive Alive.
Asked if he could get on with his life, Mr Van de Putte said: “I just can’t, I just can’t.
“I’m living that day over and over again. The other parents are doing the same.
“A lot of the parents are blaming themselves. And there’s only one person to blame - the adult who was driving that car.”
Edwards, a Bargo resident, was driving his mother’s Nissan Navara at high speeds along East Parade in Buxton shortly before 8pm when the vehicle spun out of control and smashed into a tree.
The court was told the car only had seatbelts for four passengers despite having five passengers in the car.
According to a statement of agreed facts, the 19-year-old picked his five victims up over the course of the afternoon and early evening.
He drove around the Wollondilly area with Tyrese and Antonio in the car, at times reaching speeds of 124km/h and 147km/h.
He also filmed himself on his mobile phone, swerving the steering wheel from left to right as loud music blared in the background.
Before they picked up Summer, Tyrese sent her a Snapchat message in which Edwards could be heard saying “We are going 160 the whole way. The whole way. 160.”
At the time of the accident, Antonio was sitting in the front passenger seat while Tyrese, Gabriellea Lily and Summer were all packed into the back seat, despite it only having three seatbelts.
Shortly before the collision, Edwards performed a u-turn and was doing 117km/h as he lost control of the car.
The car spun and veered across the wrong side of the road, crashing into a tree, before bouncing off into another tree.
All five victims were aged between 14 and 16. Edwards was the only survivor.
The violent impact ripped the cabin apart, ejecting Tyrese, Gabriella, Summer and Lily out of the vehicle.
All four were found a short distance from the wreckage while Antonio was trapped hanging upside down wearing his seatbelt in the front passenger seat.
Nearby residents reported hearing a “massive explosion” and frantically called triple-0.
A nurse who was first on the scene began checking on the victims as they lay on the ground but Lily was the only who still had a pulse.
The nurse commenced CPR but the 14-year-old was pronounced dead, along with the other four victims, when paramedics arrived.
Meanwhile, Edwards was heard yelling “get me out of here, I can’t stay in here” as he was trapped in the cabin.
He managed to free himself by pushing out the windscreen and climbing out.
“I’m gonna go to jail, I can’t go to jail, I don’t want to go to jail,” he told witnesses at the scene.
At Narellan Police station he told officers the last thing he remembered was: “just losing control” and ending “up in a tree”
He also told them a series of bizarre statements including that he had no idea how a fifth passenger got in his car and he thought he had only picked up two girls.
He also told officers sometimes when he was driving on the highway the car would randomly pick up speed and then drop back down.
However, mechanics found the car had no faults or defects which contributed to the crash, according to a statement of agreed facts which Edwards himself signed on Thursday.
According to court documents, Edwards had twice had his licence suspended for speeding.
On both occasions he was fined $285 and was suspended for three months for driving 10km/h over the limit.
Edwards will next appear at Campbelltown District Court on August 24.
Originally published as ‘I’m gonna go to jail’: Killer driver’s haunting words after crash
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