Man pleads guilty to stabbing 16-year-old boy to death at TTC subway station

Jordan O’Brien-Tobin, who stabbed a 16-year-old boy to death at a TTC subway station in 2023, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The victim, Gabriel Magalhaes, was attacked at Keele Station in the city’s west end as he was returning home with a friend on March 25 of that year. According to the agreed facts, the stabbing was unprovoked; However, text messages from the killer’s phone showed that he was planning to kill someone that night.

O’Brien-Tobin is a 22-year-old from Newfoundland. with a long criminal historyHe was originally charged with first-degree murder in the case, but pleaded guilty Wednesday to a lesser charge.

According to the agreed facts, Magalhaes and her friend were sitting on a bench on the ground floor of the subway station around 8:53 p.m., while O’Brien-Tobin walked down a nearby staircase.

According to court documents, security camera footage shows the defendant turning and looking at the couple as they sat down, unbeknownst to him. O’Brien-Tobin then briefly exited the station but continued to watch the victim and his friend through a set of automatic doors.

He then reached into his backpack, according to the agreed facts, before returning to the station and heading towards Magalhaes.

Young man’s lungs and heart are punctured

“The defendant, without reason and without speaking, stabbed Gabriel in the chest with a knife,” the statement said. “He then walked out of the tube station and walked away.”

Meanwhile, Magalhaes collapsed to the ground. The friend and two bystanders attempted first aid until emergency crews arrived, according to court documents. The man was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead at 9.46pm – less than an hour after O’Brien-Tobin first noticed him.

An autopsy later revealed that the knife had punctured Magalhaes’ left lung and heart.

Less than an hour after the stabbing, O’Brien-Tobin, who was not home at the time, went to a church on Roncesvalles Avenue in the city’s west end, where he spoke with a priest and a member of the congregation, according to the agreement. statement of facts.

After Magalhaes was fatally stabbed in 2023, a monument was erected outside Keele tube station. (Meagan Fitzpatrick/CBC)

The man was “acting strangely” and told them he “wanted to kill someone,” documents said. Church members were “concerned” and “challenged him.”

According to information obtained, O’Brien-Tobin arrived in St. Petersburg approximately 20 minutes later. He went to the emergency room at St. Joseph Hospital, where police found him and arrested him.

Killer confessed to stabbing by text message

The backpack was seized and forensic examination revealed Magalhaes’ blood in one of the interior compartments. The knife was never found.

The court heard police also examined the killer’s mobile phone and uncovered chilling messages he had sent to his girlfriends, friends and mother both before and after the murder.

These included “someone is dying TN”, “I randomly stabbed someone” and “I stabbed someone and got away with it”.

Last year, two of Magalhaes’ former classmates set up a small memorial for their friend outside the station to help their friend remember him.

Francesa Zalik said Magalhaes was the kindest member of her friend group.

“He was very funny. He was a very funny, sweet man,” Zalik said.

Following his death, the victim’s mother, Andrea Magalhaes, advocated for increased resources for people in crisis. Attacks on TTC raise alarm.

LISTEN | Mother of teenage boy fatally stabbed at TTC station speaks out:

“We need more social services. We need more investment in physical and mental health. We need more support around housing,” he said. “The way things are going right now, I feel like a lot of people are going to suffer the terrible pain that I’m going through right now.”

In Canada, second-degree murder comes with an automatic life sentence; It is now up to the trial judge to decide the length of time before O’Brien-Tobin can apply for parole.

The Crown is asking for 16 to 18 years, the defense is asking for 10 to 14 years.

The sentencing hearing will be held in February 2025.