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Boy, 12, and man charged after unhoused man killed in unprovoked attack, Toronto police say (www.cbc.ca)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/toronto@lemmy.ca
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[–] 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Would that even matter? He died within days because of this planned and deliberate attack.

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  • [–] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Because it's hard to prove you beat someone with the intent of killing them when they didn't die, but rather went to the hospital, were treated, and were subsequently released. Also going to be tougher because the hospital's role in this is going to be rightfully questioned as well. He may be dead because of negligence.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    This is so frustrating, because I get what you're saying and wish the legal system didn't work the way it does.

    My thought is this: had he NOT been given medical attention, would he have died from being beaten with a hammer? It sounds like YES, considering he died even after treatment.

    If that's the case, what excuse does someone have to beat another person with a hammer without the intent to kill them? This wasn't an argument in a workshop gone bad, these were two individuals who walked around with a weapon specifically to use against other people in targeted attacks.

    And they didn't just try to kill this one guy, they targeted and attacked multiple people from the sound of it.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Yeah, this one is pretty sickening. I think it more likely that this guy would have died without medical attention than as a direct result of treatment, but that's probably not relevant to the charge anyway. The victim probably died from his wounds, but it sounds more like the idiots who did it intended to rough him up for fun. They had hammers and didn't aim to cave the guy's skull in. Evidently the hospital didn't think it was that serious either, but damn, any serious beating has the potential for this. It would be like popping someone in a bar fight. Even if you were looking for trouble, it's pretty unlikely you meant to kill someone with a punch to the ribs, but it does happen. So they'll get murder, just not premeditated murder. Hopefully they weigh the brutality of the attack, and the intentional targetting of the homeless victims and put the adult away for a good long time. 12 year old isn't even old enough to fall under the YOA, but might get tried that way anyway depending on circumstances. Just sad all around here.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-s-the-difference-between-1st-degree-murder-2nd-degree-murder-and-manslaughter-1.5068520

    Honestly, I think they might even be rolling the dice on second degree. Yes, there was planning. Yes, it appears to have been "intimidation or criminal harassment" (both under first degree). Intent is the thing here. Since the victim didn't die for many days, and since the two were also arrested on robbery charges in the wake of two other incidents with other people, it's plenty arguable by the defense that they didn't intend to kill the victim.

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