Quebec's justice department has named the independent team that will investigate the crash involving a police officer that killed a five-year-old boy in Longueuil.

Pierre Dalphond, who retired from the Quebec Court of Appeals this summer, will lead the investigation.

He will be seconded by lawyers Lucie Joncas and Guy Loisel.

Nicholas Thorne-Belance died in February, four days after an undercover SQ officer smashed into the car he was riding in with his father and sister.

The police officer was driving 122 kilometres per hour in a 50-kilometre zone.

Following the police investigation, the Crown prosecutor decided not to lay charges. A key factor in that decision was the notion that the father was at least partly in the wrong, because a witness said the boy’s father made a left turn on a solid green light, billed as a “risky manoeuvre.”

In an unprecedented move, Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee ordered a second independent prosecutor to look into the case in light of witness statementsto the media.

Vallee said she made the decision in part to “maintain the public's faith” in the justice system.