A 20-year-old man and 12-year-old boy have been charged with second-degree murder after a man died in one of five “violent” robberies in the city’s downtown core, º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøpolice said.
A 62-year-old homeless man was sleeping on a bench in Nathan Phillips Square,Ìýnear , after 6 a.m. on Aug. 31 when he was approached by two people.Â
The pair began “violently beating” the man with a hammer, unprovoked, and then fled the area, police said.Â
The victim was taken to hospital with serious injuries but was then released. Days later, he was found outside without vital signs. First responders attempted life-saving measures but he was declared dead at the scene. Investigators determined that his cause of death was related to the attack.
The two suspects have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and two counts of assault with a weapon.Â
Isaiah Byers, 20, was also charged with three counts of robbery, while the 12-year-old, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act,, was charged with four counts of robbery. Both were scheduled to appear in court last week, police said.
Officers are still searching for the victim’s next of kin and will not release his identity until they have been notified, Deputy Chief Rob Johnson said in a media conference at º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøpolice headquarters Monday morning.
During the conference,ÌýDet. Sgt. Stacey McCabe said the “extremely violent” robberies targeted vulnerable community members.
“This was a disturbing crime spree,” McCabe said.Â
Approximately 20 minutes before the man was fatally attacked, two people approached another homeless man who was sitting on a park bench near , police said. The pair beat him with a hammer but he was able to get away. The extent of his injuries is not known, .
A few minutes later, the two then walked west on Dundas Street and approached another homeless man in the area close to and beat him with a hammer. The man was able to get away and was treated in hospital for his serious injuries.
After the third man was beat, the pair headed north, approaching a 63-year old man near and grabbed his phone. When the man tried to get his phone back, he was pushed to the ground and the suspects fled.
The two suspects then went up to another man at Yonge and College streets and asked to use his phone. When the man declined, one of the two people allegedly slapped the phone out of his hand and threw something at him.Â
Two nearby police officers saw the interaction and arrested the individuals.
Court documents show that Byers was out on bail at the time of the alleged Aug. 31 offences.
He was previously facing two counts of mischief, stemming from a July 25 incident, when he was charged with damaging a payphone at Dundas West Station and obstructing TTC operations at the Dundas and Bay subway stations, according to court files.
Byers was again arrested and charged with two counts of mischief on Aug. 23, after he was accused of damaging the window of a vehicle and obstructing a º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøpolice officer. He was released on bail three days later.
Johnson said the arrests are part of a “concerning” trend of youths being charged in criminal investigations.
“This is really a call to action with all our community partners to make sure we find a way to intervene when young people are involved with these types of horrendous crimes,” he said. “If you look at the last little while, the young people we have charged with carjackings, home invasions, all types of serious crime, it is concerning.”
Youth have been charged in eight of the 31 homicides in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøthis year.
At the same time, shootings have dropped by 40 per cent and the number of homicides has been cut in half compared to this time last year, .
“While the trends are encouraging, each individual incident itself is problematic, especially when it’s so violent,” Johnson said. “I mean this is just unbelievable.”
It is exceptionally rare for very young people to be charged with an alleged intentional homicide. Canada’s age of criminal responsibility is 12, making that the youngest age at which any person can be charged with a criminal offence. Earlier this year, a º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøboy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for a crime he committed at age 12, making him the city’s youngest-ever convicted murderer. The boy stabbed his cousin to death inside his aunt’s home in a crime the Crown said “will never make sense.”
According to the Star’s archives, it is the first time in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøthat a child has been found guilty of a murder committed when they were 12 years old.
With files from Betsy Powell and Jason Miller
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