Memorial playground honours Caledon mom and 3 daughters killed in Brampton crash

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Published September 20, 2023 at 8:44 am

Flowers are placed at the Ciasullo Memorial Playground in Brampton on Sept. 19, 2023. (City of Brampton)

A new playground will honour the memory of a Caledon teacher and her three daughters killed in Brampton by an impaired driver in a crash that shocked the community.

On Tuesday, the City of Brampton unveiled the new Karolina, Klara, Lilianna and Mila Ciasullo Memorial Playground located in Brampton’s Sesquicentennial Park.

The new Ciasullo Memorial Playground and activity hub at 11333 Bramalea Rd. includes an outdoor fitness area, splash pad, a shaded family gathering area,  and a fully inclusive playground, with Mayor Patrick Brown calling the dedication “a symbol of our support and remembrance to ensure the Ciasullo memory lives on in our community.”

The city pledged to name the new playground after the Ciasullo family in a council resolution passed in 2021 and follows a memorial bench and tree planting at Brampton’s Professor’s Lake in the family’s honour.

A teacher at Isaac Jogues Catholic Elementary School in Brampton, the death of Karolina and her daughters set off a wave of grief in the community and calls for stricter dangerous driving penalties.

Karolina Ciasullo daughters imparied driving crash Brampton Caledon

Karolina Ciasullo and her daughters 6-year-old Klara, 3-year-old Lilianna and 1-year-old Mila were killed in a crash in June, 2018.

Ciasullo Memorial Playground Brampton

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown addresses the crowd at the Ciasullo Memorial Playground Brampton dedication on Sept. 19, 2023.

Last year Brady Robertson, then 21 years old, was sentenced to 17 years in prison minus time served for the June 18, 2020 crash that killed 37-year-old Karolina and her daughters 6-year-old Klara, 3-year-old Lilianna and 1-year-old Mila.

During the trial, the court heard Robertson had the illegal sedative flubromazolam and 40 ng/ml of THC in his blood less than an hour after the crash, which is eight times higher than the legal limit of no more than 5 ng/ml two hours after driving.

He had received 15 driving infractions in the two and a half years before the fatal crash, including a collision just two days earlier when he failed to stop at an intersection and crashed into a barrier.

Robertson pleaded guilty to four counts of dangerous driving causing death, but he pleaded not guilty to four counts of operation while impaired by drugs causing death.

The new playground space is the city’s third activity hub project, adding many amenities to the an underutilized 1.65 hectares in the park.

You can learn more about the new Ciasullo Memorial Playground by visiting Brampton’s Sesquicentennial Park or www.Brampton.ca.

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