One of two young men accused in a deadly 2014 street race in Barrie took the stand in his own defence Friday and denied any involvement in the incident.
"Were you racing?" asked his lawyer Peter Brauti.
"I wasn't," replied the young man who stood in the witness box with his hands clasped in front of him.
The 20-year old Barrie man and his co-accused, also 20, cannot be identified due to the Youth Criminal Justice Act because they were both 17 at the time of the April 4, 2014 crash.
A black BMW travelling on Mapleview Drive West T-boned the Toyota Corolla being driven by 45-year old Theresa Van Wieren-Wisch as she pulled out of the Tim Hortons.
The Innisfil mother of three was killed instantly and her 13-year old son Ingo was injured.
Both accused have pleaded not guilty to several charges including street racing causing death.
The young man testified he was driving a white Mazda 3 that belonged to his girlfriend who was with him that evening.
The Mazda driver said he witnessed the collision, slowed down to drive past it and continued on to shop at a nearby Canadian Tire.
Brauti asked why he didn't stop.
"I thought of stopping but I was only 17 years old. It was a very shocking thing to see. I had no first aid training. I didn't think I'd be of any use to anyone."
Crown attorney Fred Temple grilled the young man about his reaction.
"How does being 17 factor into you not stopping?" asked Temple.
"I thought, I'm just a kid. What could I do?"
"Sir, I suggest you didn't stop because you were racing and you did not want to be connected to that accident," the Crown said.
"I would say you're wrong," replied the accused.
"Did you think of calling 911? You just saw this shocking accident?" Temple asked.
"I did not," the accused replied calmly.
The young man repeatedly denied he was racing and didn't feel like he'd done anything wrong that night by the way he was driving or his reaction to the collision.
"I didn't feel obligated to step up....looking at it now it would've been the right thing to do," he said.
He told court he did not know why the BMW driver suddenly accelerated ahead of him crashing into the Toyota.
Defence lawyer Terry Hawtin called no evidence on behalf of the BMW driver.
The accused who testified said he did not know the other young driver and to this day has never spoken a single word to him.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday.
