Eight teenage girls have been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the “sudden death” of a 59-year-old man who used to frequent shelters in Toronto, police said Tuesday.
Police say the teenage girls, aged 13 to 16, met on social media and decided to meet up in downtown Queen City on Saturday night. They would then have been involved in two fights.
In the aftermath of the second scuffle, the 59-year-old reportedly had to go to hospital on Sunday morning with life-threatening injuries. Police later confirmed that he succumbed to his injuries.
Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Terry Browne said three of the eight teenage girls involved were known to police. He said that three of them are 13 years old, three are 14 years old and the last two are 16 years old.
“We don’t know how or why they met that night, or why they chose to go downtown. We don’t know,” he said.
Weapons were recovered near the scene of the fights, Detective Sergeant Browne said, but he declined to specify what items they were.
A press release issued earlier by the police mentioned that the man had been stabbed.
The eight defendants appeared in court on Sunday morning and are due back next week. Their identity cannot be disclosed under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Police are asking anyone who may have come into contact with the girls on Saturday night to come forward.
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