Teen girl found guilty of manslaughter in fatal Toronto swarming attack

Sonja Puzic · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 30, 2025 1:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

One of the teen girls accused successful the fatal swarming onslaught connected a stateless Toronto antheral has been recovered not blameworthy of second-degree murder, but blameworthy of the lesser complaint of manslaughter.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Philip Campbell said it wasn't proven beyond a tenable uncertainty that the miss dealt the fatal stroke to Kenneth Lee, oregon had the authorities of caput required for execution during the 2022 attack.

"This was a manslaughter, and was precise adjacent to the astir superior illustration of that offence, but it was not a murder," helium said Friday arsenic helium delivered the verdict.

The girl, who was 14 astatine the clip of the attack, had tried to plead blameworthy to manslaughter astatine the commencement of her execution trial, but the Crown rejected that plea.

She was 1 of 8 girls betwixt the ages of 13 and 16 who were arrested and charged with second-degree execution aft Lee's death. The different 7 girls person pleaded blameworthy to lesser charges — 5 to manslaughter, 1 to battle and 1 to battle with a limb and battle causing bodily harm.

At this girl's trial, prosecutors argued that she was the 1 who inflicted Lee's fatal coiled by stabbing the 59-year-old with a weapon oregon a tiny brace of scissors during the December 2022 onslaught successful a downtown Toronto parkette.

Judge recovered miss had scissors during attack

No weapon was ever recovered arsenic portion of the investigation, the proceedings heard, and the defence said the miss didn't person a weapon astatine immoderate constituent that night.

But the justice recovered that the miss did person a limb astatine 1 constituent during the attack: a tiny brace of scissors.

"She had a limb and a demonstrated willingness to usage it against Mr. Lee," helium wrote successful his verdict, referencing surveillance video footage of the onslaught that was cardinal to the trial.

"She was pressing hard to get adjacent to Mr. Lee, scissors successful hand. Her animus toward him was high. She made a chiseled upward motion with the manus holding the scissors."

However, Campbell said, "it is the inconsistency betwixt the coiled and the weapon, and the inability to eliminate
conclusively a coiled by different idiosyncratic utilizing different weapon, that leaves maine undecided arsenic to who stabbed Mr. Lee successful the heart, and how."

The girl's defence lawyer had argued it's intolerable to archer from the video who stabbed Lee and when.

But the Crown said successful its closing submissions that astatine 2 points, the miss tin beryllium seen successful the video extending her manus successful a stabbing question that correlates with the cuts connected Lee's body.

Unlikely aforesaid scissors would person killed Lee: pathologist

When she was arrested, the miss was recovered with 2 tiny pairs of scissors and immoderate tweezers, tribunal heard.

The forensic pathologist who examined Lee's assemblage testified helium died from hemorrhagic daze aft helium was stabbed successful the heart. He besides had a smaller, non-fatal stab coiled adjacent his armpit and an assortment of bruises, tribunal heard.

The pathologist testified it was improbable that the scissors recovered with the miss would person caused the coiled that killed Lee.

Lee was surviving successful the city's structure strategy and was astatine the parkette adjacent Toronto's Union Station with a person erstwhile they
encountered the group. He died successful the aboriginal hours of Dec. 18, 2022, aft undergoing exigency country astatine St. Michael's Hospital, tribunal has heard.

The justice said Friday that watching the video of the onslaught near him "struck by the irrational viciousness" of the group's
behaviour and the girl's usage of the scissors arsenic a weapon.

"Yet, this does not pb maine to the decision that she had the authorities of caput for murder," helium said. "The connection 'murder' is not a shorthand for an utmost level of motivation nonaccomplishment oregon a precocious grade of viciousness."

The Crown and defence are acceptable to instrumentality to tribunal astatine the extremity of July for sentencing submissions.