The family of the Newmarket man who died when his vehicle collided with escaped horses on Highway 9 has filed a $3-million lawsuit against the owner of the horses and stables.
Aprim Shemoun, 60, was driving to work at about 3 a.m. Nov. 11, 2022 when his Toyota struck a horse that was loose on the roadway. He was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.
Around the time of the crash, York Regional Police had tweeted 20 to 30 horses were on Davis Drive near Bathurst Street.
Joseph Shemoun, Aprim's 25-year-old son, said his father was familiar with the route as he drove it to his job as a truck driver six days a week from their home near Bathurst and Davis, always around that same time.
Joseph, his 27-year-old sister, Nerona, and their mother, Shabnam Nobakht, are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Bruno Schickedanz, owner of Select Stud Stables and of the horses involved, and stable manager Tracey Harpley.
Nobakht said she doesn't have the words to explain how much the loss of her husband of more than 30 years has impacted her. She said she still has nightmares and has to take sleeping pills to rest at night.
Nerona said she was at home and remembers the moment they heard the news, seeing the police cars outside their house.
"I still see them at the same time, 4 a.m. It's like PTSD. I just can't get over that moment," she said.
On top of dealing with this loss, there have also been financial impacts as Shemoun was the primary breadwinner for the family.
"It definitely affected us both emotionally and financially. My father worked for mostly my mom and my family and we're kind of trying to pick up the pieces of that and help my mom pay the bills and mortgage and all that stuff. Which is very hard for her right now," Joseph said.
The lawsuit, filed by lawyer Justin Linden, is seeking $3 million in damages for emotional compensation and to help recover the family's financial loss as a result of the fatal collision.
The claim is for negligence and nuisance on the part of the stables and horse owner.
"The last thing that should have happened is a herd of horses come running down the street and, in our view, there's no excuse for that. Somebody as sophisticated as this owner of the horses and the property should make double sure that the property was secure. There's no excuse for 20 to 30 horses getting out, running down a street in this subdivision. Completely inexcusable," Linden said.
Both defendants have filed their statements of defence against the claim. In his statement, Schickedanz acknowledges that it was his horse, Deeply in Love, that was killed in a collision with a motor vehicle Nov. 11, 2022. However, the statement asserts the horse was properly secured on the nearby property in a double-fenced paddock secured with two padlocks and that the fence met safety standards.
He claims Aprim Shemoun was negligent and was driving at an excessive rate of speed, that he failed to wear a seatbelt, failed to wear corrective lenses, failed to control the motor vehicle, and failed to avoid the accident, among other claims.
Linden said they are not aware of any evidence to support those claims and said they are "boiler plate" allegations.
Joseph said that his dad had a number of safe driving recognitions from his his work and that he generally drove carefully.
"The road was 80 km/h and he was going the speed limit. It's already fairly fast. Like if you saw a horse, even if you're going 60 km/h, it's pretty fast to be able to just slam the brakes and stop and, again, he was the best driver I've ever known," he said.
The suit is now before the courts and none of the claims from the plaintiffs or the defendants have been proven in court. Linden said typically these kind of cases take 18 to 24 months.
