A 13-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder after an elderly woman was fatally stabbed in Pickering on Thursday, court heard on Friday.
The accused appeared via Zoom in Oshawa court on Friday from Durham Regional Police Division 17. During the hearing, he spoke to confirm he had the opportunity to speak with a lawyer, and he understood the charge he faces.
His identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe said the boy had previously interacted with police, speaking to CBC Radio’s Metro Morning earlier on Friday.
Ashe said the boy was also “very recognizable in regards to his outfit.”
“I think there was an awareness in fairly short order of who the alleged assailant was,” Ashe said.
A 13-year-old boy has been arrested after an elderly woman was fatally stabbed in Pickering, Ont. CBC’s Clara Pasieka breaks down what we know so far about the ongoing investigation.
Before the boy was arrested, police had said they were looking for a male suspect wearing a long black trench coat that reached his ankles.
Police have said the boy was arrested without incident on Thursday night. Ashe said the boy was arrested at his home.
“The randomness of this act, the senseless violence that occurred on our usually safe city streets is very troublesome,” Ashe said.
The incident happened around 3 p.m. when the woman was approached by a male she did not know outside her home on Lynn Heights Drive, police have said.
Durham police Chief Peter Moreira said the suspect stabbed the woman “in a sadistic and cowardly unprovoked attack that was captured on video,” speaking to reporters on Thursday night.
She died while en route to a trauma centre in Toronto, Ashe said.
Ontario Provincial Police issued an emergency alert on behalf of Durham police around 5:40 p.m., saying officers were investigating a homicide suspect on Lynn Heights Drive and asking residents to shelter in place.
Following the alert, the city of Pickering shut down all public facilities, including community centres and libraries.
Ashe said the closures happened “after an abundance of caution until there was an arrest made.”
“Thankfully that was done in short order,” he said.
The alert lifted around 9 p.m. when the boy was in custody. Charges are pending, police said Thursday.
Ashe said he spoke to the victim’s neighbours on Thursday, who described her as a “very nice” woman who walked her dogs in the neighbourhood and took care of her husband.
“It struck a chord in our community and it’s obviously ripped a family apart,” he said.
Neighbours say they saw suspect in area
Shedia Serrao Fredericks and Gabriela Fredericks live opposite the victim. Both women said they saw a person who matched the police suspect description walking in the area before the stabbing.
Gabriela said she was sitting in her bedroom when she saw the suspect walking toward the victim’s home. As her view was partially blocked, she did not see the stabbing, she said.
“It seems like a lot of people have seen him walking around that day, around that time, just because he stood out quite a bit,” she said.
Later as she left her house to go to an appointment, Gabriela said she saw someone giving CPR to the victim while a few other neighbours were also there.
“Everybody was here within minutes, police, firefighters, ambulance,” she said.
Shedia said she has lived opposite the woman for 31 years. She described her as a quiet lady who always would say hello when she saw her.
“We just go over, clean the snow and help her, because her husband is ill,” Shedia said, adding that she was a “very, very nice lady.”