May 28 marks one year since four-year-old Leonardo Machado was struck and killed by the driver of a transit bus near the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in West Vancouver. The collision also left his mother severely injured.
Crown Counsel confirms to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver that it has received a preliminary report on the case, and that a charge assessment is now underway.
“The police investigation is also continuing in parallel,” said Damienne Darby, Communications Counsel for the Crown.
“I do not have an estimated timeline I can share, but complex matters such as this one can take some time. The charge assessment guidelines, that are applied by the BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) in reviewing all Reports to Crown Counsel (RCC), are established in policy. The BCPS will have no comment while the matter is under charge assessment.”
TransLink said, “Our thoughts remain with the family as the anniversary of this incident approaches. As this matter remains under active police investigation, we are not able to comment or provide further details at this time. We continue to cooperate fully with the investigation.”
Despite both agencies saying the police investigation remains open, the West Vancouver Police Department says it’s over.
“Our investigation is complete, and the file was referred to the BC Prosecution Service on April 7, 2026. In order to preserve the integrity of the legal process, we’re not able to provide further information at this time,” said Sgt. Chris Bigland.
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Leonardo’s parents spoke to 1130 NewsRadio Vancouver about their recovery, grief and the daily heartbreak of facing life with their young child.
“I was every day with him, like 24 hours basically,” shares Leo’s mother, Silvana de Oliveira Schramm who was released from the hospital in April following extensive care and more than 20 surgeries.
“I spent five months at VGH — five months at GF Strong. I didn’t have time to grieve him. And now I’m discharged, and since then in the first two weeks, it was very hard for me. When I’m at home, I miss him a lot. Sometimes, I cry, cry, and cry. But I have my family supporting me a lot, of course. Only them and God can help me.”
Schramm says despite her injuries, she is regaining her physical strength little by little.
“I feel Leo with me because when I’m doing physio, I just think, ‘OK, I need to focus, and I need to go.’ I take it one day [at a time].”
Leonardo’s father, Clineu Machado, admits he’s struggling.
“Nothing can undo what happened,” he said.
He says the couple has been so focused on her recovery that it’s kept some of the grief at bay.
“It, somehow, helps to grieve less. Because you have to keep your mind her on treatments, surgeries, everything and in some way keeping you busy, diminishes the pain because all her treatments and care are not optional. We do it, but when we remember Leonardo, we get sad. His life was cut short.”
Machado says they have a lawyer and are still waiting for answers about what happened that day.
“We asked for more information from TransLink and police, and I think after five or six months they released all the information about the maintenance of the bus, but nothing about the training of the driver and how prepared was the driver. Our lawyer requested that again, but they never supplied that information.”
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He’s accusing the other parties involved in the crash of protecting themselves.
“We expected an explanation in the first couple of months, but it never came from police or TransLink. But they protect themselves, they protect the system in place. We have a few desires after the tragedy: first, to know what happened, and the most important, is not financial compensation, we look for changes to prevent this from happening again. It’s unacceptable.”
As the legal process plays out, the parents take time to remember their son loved to do puzzles, explore nature, was curious, sweet, and always smiling.
A church on 13th Avenue near Clark Drive in Vancouver will hold a memorial mass Thursday evening, where the couple plan to share some words about Leonardo.
Schramm says she hopes to release a children’s book in honour of her son one day.
—With files from David Nadalini