Eight teenage ladies who seem to have met on social media have been charged with second-degree homicide over the dying of a 59-year-old man who was stabbed in downtown Toronto.
Police allege that the women assaulted and stabbed the person at a plaza close to the principle rail station in Canada’s largest metropolis early on Sunday morning. Three of the women are 13, three are 14 and two are 16, police mentioned on Tuesday.
Police haven’t named the sufferer, however talking at a information convention, Det Sgt Terry Browne of Toronto’s murder unit mentioned the person had just lately moved into town’s homeless shelter system.
“He does have a really supportive household within the space so I wouldn’t essentially name him homeless, perhaps only in the near past on some arduous luck,” Browne mentioned.
Browne mentioned officers responded to a name within the downtown core round midnight on 18 December after bystanders flagged down paramedics to report a person affected by “stab wounds”.
Police say the women are believed to have assaulted and stabbed the sufferer following an altercation. The person was rushed to the hospital with critical accidents however died a short while later.
Officers arrested the women close by after interviewing witnesses, recovering a variety of weapons on the scene. Not one of the suspects might be recognized underneath Canada’s Youth Felony Justice Act.
Browne mentioned investigators imagine these concerned within the assault met on social media and got here from varied components of town, however mentioned it was nonetheless unclear why they met that night.
“I wouldn’t describe them as a gang at this level however what [is] alleged to have occurred that night can be per what we historically name a swarming,” mentioned Browne.
Three of the suspects have had earlier “contact” with police, mentioned Brown, and the opposite 5 had no prior interactions with police.
The suspects appeared in court docket on Sunday and are due once more in court docket on 29 December.