1 of 8 teen girls charged in murder of Toronto homeless man released on bail

Dec 30 2022, 12:07 am

One of the eight teen girls accused of stabbing a homeless man to death less than two weeks ago in downtown Toronto has been granted bail following a brief court appearance this week, leaving police custody to await trial at home with strict conditions in place.

The girl, who cannot be identified under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was released on a bail of $9,500 with two sureties on Thursday as the result of an individual, in-person appearance at an Ontario courtroom on Wednesday.

The girl is not allowed to have a cell phone, leave the province, be outside of her home without a surety, have contact with any of her fellow accused, or use the internet for anything aside from online schooling, per the bail conditions read by Ontario Justice Maria Sirivar in court on Thursday, December 29.

She is permitted to attend school in person, as long as she stays within the building, but has been ordered to surrender her passport.

Sirivar is set to deliver the rationale behind her decision for allowing this particular suspect to leave custody on bail early next month.

Meanwhile, seven other young women who are also accused of second-degree murder in the “swarming-style” slaying of a 59-year-old Toronto man near Union Station on December 18 appeared before court online today set a date for their own bail hearings.

Some of the teens are still in the process of securing legal representation, according to Reuters, and are set to appear physically in youth court for a formal bail hearing on January 5, 2023. These girls remain in custody.

As reported to the horror of news audiences all over the world last week, three 13-year-old girls, three 14-year-old girls, and two 16-year-old girls were been charged with second-degree murder following the stabbing death of a 59-year-old homeless man in the area of York Street and University Avenue just after midnight on Sunday, December 18.

“These eight individuals, from what we’ve gathered so far… they met each other through social media,” said Sergeant Terry Browne while providing an update on the city’s 68th homicide case of 2022 on December 20.

“They come from varying parts of the city — that is to say they are not from one specific geographic location. We don’t know how they met on that evening, and why the destination was downtown Toronto.”

Browne revealed at the time that the same group of “eight young ladies” was believed to have been involved in a separate altercation earlier in the evening, around 10:30 pm on Saturday, December 17.

“We don’t know how long they’ve been acquainted together with each other, but I wouldn’t describe them as a gang at this point,” said Browne when asked if the suspects were part of a “girl gang.”

“But, what is alleged to have occurred that evening would be consistent with what we traditionally call swarming or swarming-type behaviour.”

Rumours had been swirling ahead of Thursday’s court appearance that the young women had filmed their fatal attack and posted it somewhere online.

A lawyer for one of the girls all but confirmed this on Thursday.

Lauren O'NeilLauren O'Neil

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