A Langton, Ont. man has been found guilty of failing to stop at the scene of a collision causing death in connection with the death of a 14-year-old boy on Dec. 6, 2023.
The finding was made after 36-year-old Nicholas Burtch entered a guilty plea on Wednesday morning in the Simcoe Courthouse in Norfolk County. In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard the boy and his friend were walking west along Fairground Road near the hamlet of Cultus around 5:30 in the afternoon. The teen, whose identity has been protected by the courts, was struck from behind by a westbound pickup driven by Burtch.
He was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after the collision. Burtch would later be heard telling friends and family that he damaged his truck after hitting a deer. On Dec.
8, 2023, OPP received a warrant after learning the truck was parked behind a trailer, under a small Quonset hut on his mother’s property — Burtch lived at the home with his wife and children. While being interviewed by police Burtch again repeated his contention that he believed he hit a deer. Later in the interview he conceded that he may have hit a person.
A sentencing hearing is now proceeding with victim impact statements being delivered to the court by friends and family. This is a developing story. London Top Stories Guilty: Langton, Ont.
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