A tragic collision has claimed the life of a young Indigenous father after a speeding motorcycle slammed into a bus shelter in Edmonton.
On Tuesday evening, 21-year-old Anjrel Standinghorn-Morin was standing with his longtime partner Alicia and their 10-month-old son at a transit stop on 97 Street near 120 Avenue. The family was waiting for a bus so they could get something to eat when a motorcycle careened onto the sidewalk and struck the shelter.
Police say an 18-year-old rider on a 2004 Yamaha YZF-R6 had been racing an unidentified BMW northbound on 97 Street. The bike lost control, left the roadway, and crashed into the group of people waiting at the stop.
Anjrel, Alicia, their infant, and a 46-year-old man were all hurt in the impact.
All four victims were rushed to hospital. Anjrel was later pronounced dead. Alicia and the older man sustained serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Their baby boy has serious and potentially life-threatening injuries. Relatives said the force of the crash hurled the infant roughly 30 feet into the roadway.
Anjrel’s family is arranging his funeral and trying to process the sudden loss. Anjrel was one of seven siblings who grew up in Maskwacis. Family members remembered him as quiet and driven, and a proud father of two. He had only recently moved his young family into the city this past summer and was starting to put down roots. He worked at Canadian Tire and dreamed of becoming a wildland firefighter, following the path of his older brother.
His mother, Trina Morin, described the pain of having to tell Alicia that Anjrel had died: “Seeing my daughter-in-law and telling her for the first time that my son was gone in the hospital just truly broke me.”
EPS have charged 18-year-old Kaeden Piccolo with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, along with three counts of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.
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