funeral
Julie Hambleton
Julie Hambleton
November 15, 2023 ·  5 min read

Dad whose 3 kids were killed by drunk driver dies by suicide hours after Father’s Day – rest in peace

Drunk driving ruins not just the lives of those it takes, but also of those left behind. This Toronto, Canada family is a devastatingly sad example of that. In 2015, a drunk driver killed all three of Edward Lake and Jennifer Neville-Lake’s children and their grandfather. Seven years later, hours after father’s day, their father Edward succumbed to his grief and took his own life. Now Jennifer is left without her children, father, and husband all because of one man’s poor decisions.

Father Who’s Children Were All Killed By A Drunk Driver Takes His Own Life

Jennifer Neville Lake | Facebook

It was a beautiful, clear sunny Sunday afternoon when Jennifer Neville-Lake and her husband Edward Lake received news that would change their lives forever. Their three children, ages 9, 5, and 2, were late coming home from an overnight stay at their grandparents’ house. Jennifer had the news on, where they were talking about a fatal drunk driving accident. In the images, she saw a bag that looked identical to one her son had. She called the police station only to receive horrific news: Her family had been hit by a drunk driver while on their way home. (1)

Jennifer’s father and oldest son were killed in the crash and her other two children were at the Toronto Sick Kids’ Hospital on life support. Her mother and grandmother had been badly injured and were also in hospital. From that moment forward, Jennifer and Edward’s lives would never be the same.

A Tragic And Avoidable Accident

They rushed to the hospital only to find out that their two youngest children were brain dead. The parents laid with their children as the doctors removed them from life support. It took time to even find out where their son and their children’s grandfather’s bodies were. It also took a while to figure out which hospitals Jennifer’s mother and 91-year-old grandmother had been taken to.

Since then, both Jennifer and Edward have been living like ghosts of their former selves. Edward has been struggling with anxiety and depression ever since. On Father’s day 2022, the couple visited the grave site of their children. Jennifer put a photo on Twitter of the graves with the caption “Father’s day 2022. This shouldn’t be real. It can’t be.”. The next day, she posted another photo of her husband and their three children. This time, she was announcing her husband’s death. Sadly, Edward took his own life just hours after Father’s day was over.

“The eyes he shared with Harry are forever closed
Daniel’s curls will never shine in the sunlight again
I will never see Milly’s shy smile creep across his lips anymore
My children’s father, Edward Lake, has joined our kids so they can play together, forever.
Mahal kita, Edward.”
she captioned the photo, with Mahal Kita meaning I love you in Filipino. (2)

Read: Healthy 9-year-old Went To Sleep But Never Woke Up – Now His Family Is Asking For Prayers

The Details

Peel region police said that someone called them to Jennifer and Edward’s home on Father’s day. The police were made aware of Edward’s mental health challenges prior to responding to the call. When they entered the home, there was what they described as an “altercation” between the father and the officers. The officers said they required the use of a taser, after which they called paramedics to the scene. 

The paramedics took Edward to the hospital where doctors evaluated him and then sent him home. The police charged Edward the day before he died, though with what charges we do not know. It was hours later that Edward took his own life. (3)

Something That Should Never Have Happened

The man responsible for killing now five members of the Neville-Lake family, Marco Muzzo, is no longer in prison but out on parole. The court granted him full parole in 2021. We can only hope that some of the words Jennifer wrote in her victim impact statement will stick with this man forever.

“I don’t have anyone left to call me mom … You killed all my babies,” she wrote. “I miss my kids, I miss my dad, I want my old life back.” (4)

She then read out the names of her father and three children. Jennifer told Muzzo that those were the people who “paid the price for his drinks with their blood”. In her letter, she recounted what happened when she first arrived at the hospital. The doctors told her that her oldest, Daniel, was already dead. Her two youngest were on life support just waiting for her so she could say goodbye.

“All of them?” she said she cried out. “All of my babies are gone? Not ONE left?”

Jennifer went on to describe how Muzzo had killed a child with special needs, who had worked so hard to learn to walk, eat, and talk. He had killed a two-year-old baby, whose parents were only just getting to know her. They didn’t even know what their baby girl’s favorite color was yet. She explained how she cried herself to sleep, and how often when she and her husband would wake up she didn’t know if it was her tears staining the pillows or his. Jennifer reminded him that while he will eventually get out of prison, she is now living a life sentence of grief and sorrow because of his actions.

“All that is left of them is a horrifying picture of their death, painted on a canvas by your selfish actions,” she wrote. “You deserve to know what it’s like to have every single life you created taken from you,”

Our thoughts and love go out to Jennifer Neville-Lake in this extremely difficult time.

Keep Reading: Video shows husband visiting hero teacher wife’s memorial hours before he died ‘of broken heart’

Sources

  1. Man whose children were killed by drunk driver commits suicide a day after Father’s Day.” NY Post. Jesse O’Neill. June 22, 2022.
  2. Twitter
  3. Father of 3 children killed by drunk driver Marco Muzzo tasered, charged day before death.” Global News. Isaac Callan & Caryn Lieberman. June 22, 2022.
  4. ‘You killed all my babies,’ grieving mom tells Muzzo at sentencing hearing.” City News. Paola Loriggio. February 23, 2016.