Eight Toronto teenagers charged with second-degree murder of 59-year-old man
Rachel Schilke
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Eight teenage girls from Toronto have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 59-year-old man who was living on the streets.
Toronto police said the eight girls, three aged 13, three aged 14, and two aged 16, allegedly assaulted and stabbed the man to death in downtown Toronto on Sunday morning. The man was taken to a hospital where he later died from his injuries.
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Police said they won’t release his name until family can be reached.
“He does have a very supportive family in the area so I wouldn’t necessarily call him homeless. Maybe just recently on some hard luck,” said Detective Sgt. Terry Browne of the Toronto Police Service Homicide Squad.
Browne said police believe the girls were trying to take a bottle of alcohol from the man. Earlier in the night, the same group of girls got into an “altercation,” but Browne would not release more details, per ABC News.
“They met each other through social media. They come from varying parts of the city,” Browne said. “We don’t know how or why they met on that evening and why the destination was downtown Toronto. We don’t know how long they were acquainted with each other. I wouldn’t describe them as a gang at this point.”
Browne said he believes the girls, who met on social media, took part in a “swarming” and is searching social media to see if there are similar attacks online that potentially influenced them.
“Maybe these were eight young women that wanted to make a name for themselves and see if they could become socially famous,” he said.
The detective sergeant added that all eight girls are believed to have participated, with a number of weapons confiscated. Three of the eight had prior encounters with police, Browne said, but their parents were in “shock” to find out their children were involved in an attack like this.
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“I’ve been in policing for almost 35 years and you think you’ve seen it all,” Browne said. “Anyone who isn’t shocked with hearing something like this has clearly just thrown in the towel and just said that anything is possible in this world. Eight young girls and most under the age of 16. If this isn’t alarming and shocking to everyone, then we’re all in trouble quite frankly.”
The girls have made their first court appearance and remain in custody, with a second court appearance scheduled for Dec. 29.