A 26-year-old man appeared in court Monday morning on charges connected to a crash that killed a 29-year-old woman and left her two-month-old son fighting for his life.

Ahmed Darwish of Kitchener is charged with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failure to provide a breath sample and failure to take a drug test.

Darwish is alleged to have been the driver of a Mercedes-Benz vehicle that rear-ended a Mazda vehicle on Highway 7/8 near Trussler Road Sunday night.

Susana Dumitru of London was in the back seat of the Mazda when the crash occurred. She was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Her two-month old son George, who was sitting beside her, was airlifted to SickKids in Toronto. As of early Monday afternoon, he was said to be in critical condition.

Two other people in the Mazda – the baby’s father and grandmother – suffered minor injuries.

All westbound lanes of the highway remained closed at Trussler for several hours. They reopened early Monday morning.

Shortly before noon, Darwish appeared in Kitchener court for approximately five minutes. He was remanded back into custody, with his next court date set for next Monday.

Family members declined to speak with CTV News outside the courthouse, while Darwish’s lawyer said that she didn’t have “any information” to share.

“It’s very new. It was only a first appearance,” she said.

Online profiles list Darwish as a financial advisor who is engaged to be married.

In an email to CTV News, a spokesperson for Sun Life Financial said that the company’s “heartfelt sympathies go out to the families” affected by the collision.

“The individual who has been charged in this case is no longer conducting business on behalf of Sun Life Financial,” wrote Robyn Keene, the company’s director of external communications.

“Given the ongoing police investigation, we are unable to comment further for privacy reasons.”

NOTE: A previous publication ban on the victim's names has been lifted.