Eight girls between the ages of 13 and 16 have been charged in Toronto, Canada, with the murder of a homeless 59-year-old man who lived in a city shelter.
Local authorities believe the girls attacked the man after
trying to snatch a bottle of liquor from him
.
They assure that the defendants met online and saw each other for the first time on the same day of the attack, this Saturday morning.
The identities of the girls and the victim who, according to Toronto police detective Sergeant Terry Browne, "had a supportive family in the area, so I wouldn't say he was homeless, I would say he was homeless, have not been released. maybe a person with bad luck," reported the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
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An unidentified witness told that news network that she and the victim were smoking a cigarette outside the shelter when the girls approached and tried to snatch a bottle of liquor from them.
The man asked them to leave them alone, the woman said.
"He protected me
," she assured the Canadian media.
According to her account, at that moment the minors began to hit the man.
Frightened, she fled from the place, where she said that she saw a lot of blood.
“I don't know if they had a knife or what. She was scared, I think he was stabbed in the stomach
,” she recounted.
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The authorities assured that they are still investigating and that the reason for the attack that happened at 12:15 am (local time) is still not clear.
The victim was taken to the hospital, but she died from her injuries.
Browne, said the crime was "shocking" and that
in his 19 years as a detective he had never seen anything like it.
At a press conference, he explained that in the group of minors, all accused of second-degree murder, there are three 13-year-old girls, three 14-year-olds and two 16-year-olds.
All of them, he clarified, were involved.
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"I won't say what each did, but all eight acted together in the incident, which is disturbing," she lamented.
According to the CBC, the authorities contacted the families of the minors.
"As you can imagine, everyone was in shock
,
as if they had been hit by a truck
," she stressed.
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Investigators believe that the minors met through social networks and that, that day, they were involved in at least three other events described as "criminal activities."
The police arrested them, just after the third incident.
All eight must appear in court on December 29.
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Investigators were still trying to contact the victim's parents on Wednesday.
They said they will not reveal their identity until they are found.
Authorities request information
Toronto Mayor John Tory issued a statement regretting the incident, calling it "disturbing."
“Everyone in our city deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
I am very sad to know that a man lost his life in this way, ”she said.
Downtown Toronto, in a file photo from September 2021.Chris Pizzello / AP
The authorities have asked the public for information to obtain more clues about the case.
In 2022, 68 homicides have been reported in Toronto, compared to 81 in 2021 and 96 five years ago, according to official figures.
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