The first day of his sentencing hearing focused on the children and grandfather he killed in a drunk driving car crash, but Wednesday was all about Marco Muzzo.

The defence, pushing for a sentence of eight years in prison, presented the court with 92 letters of support — from family, friends, co-workers and Muzzo’s priest — which lawyer Brian Greenspan said spoke to the 29-year-old’s “fundamental decency.”

Muzzo pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges of impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm for the Sept. 27 crash in Vaughan that killed 65-year-old Gary Neville and his three grandchildren: Daniel Neville-Lake, 9, Harrison, 5, and Milagros, 2.

The children’s grandmother and great-grandmother were seriously injured.

Muzzo had nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood at the time of the incident, court heard.

When it came time Wednesday for Muzzo to face the children’s parents from the witness stand — just as their mother did Tuesday when she gave a powerful victim impact statement — Edward Lake and Jennifer Neville-Lake chose to quietly exit the courtroom.

They returned after he had finished reading his prepared statement.

“Ever since the tragedy that occurred as a result of my inexcusable conduct, I have wanted to say that I am sorry and apologize to your family from the bottom of my heart,” Muzzo said, holding back tears, as members of his family wept in the front row.

“I wish that I could be able to give back to your family for all I have taken. I will spend the rest of my life attempting to atone for my conduct — by devoting myself to educating the public of the disastrous consequences of drinking and driving.”

Muzzo will remain in custody until he is sentenced on March 29 by Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst.

The Crown is asking for a sentence of 10 to 12 years in prison and that Muzzo be banned from driving for eight to 12 years.

Crown attorney Paul Tait spoke of a “regrettable upward trend” of impaired driving in York Region, and of how Canadian courts have started to impose harsher sentences as a way to address the “scourge” of impaired driving.

“It is time to send a message, and the Crown’s position of 10 to 12 years in a penitentiary for Mr. Muzzo sends such a message,” he said in court.

“Every drunk driver makes a choice, and in this case that choice resulted in catastrophic consequences for the victims’ family. An entire generation of the Neville-Lake family was wiped out in one fell swoop.”

Impaired driving causing death carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but Jennifer Neville-Lake made it clear to reporters outside the courthouse that the only ones involved in this tragedy who have actually been given a life sentence are she and her family.

She was the final person Tuesday to give a victim impact statement in court, in which she told Muzzo that her children and grandfather “paid for your drinks with the price of their blood.”

Neville-Lake told reporters Wednesday that she and her husband chose to leave just before Muzzo read his statement because there’s nothing he could say that would have any impact on them.

“I don’t want to listen to the man who is responsible for killing my children,” she said. “His actions spoke louder than his words. And I don’t see why I should have to put myself through that.”

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Her family even requested a court order that Muzzo be prohibited from contacting them, but the judge said she agreed with Greenspan that generally such an order is only granted if there is a real concern for safety. Neville-Lake told reporters she was pleased to have at least gotten her request on record.

The letters of support variously described Muzzo as a humble and generous person, always ready to help out, who stepped in to care for his family after the death of his father.

“The media portrayal of Marco couldn’t be further from the truth,” wrote his uncle, Marc Muzzo.

There was also a psychiatrist’s report entered as an exhibit at the hearing, which described Muzzo as feeling remorseful for his actions and showing signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Prior to the crash, Muzzo spent several days in Miami with about a dozen friends for a “pre-wedding party,” according to the report.

“He reports that they went out for nice dinners, went to the lobby bar and sat by the pool during the day,” wrote psychiatrist Dr. Graham Glancy.

Muzzo reported he had three or four drinks on the private plane from Miami back to Toronto the day of the crash.

“He did not perceive himself as being drunk” and got in his car at Pearson airport to head home, according to the report.

Glancy said Muzzo remembered feeling happy, was not in a rush and had the windows down and the music playing while driving home. The next thing he remembers, according to the report, was the sound of brakes squealing.

According to an agreed statement of fact filed earlier with the court when he pleaded guilty, Muzzo was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech and had urinated himself when police arrived.

When asked about the criminal charges by the psychiatrist, Muzzo reportedly became tearful.

“I think about it over and over,” he told the psychiatrist. “Taking four lives ... I feel... f---ed up... maybe there is a better word than f----ed up? I feel ... troubled.”