Content warning: The following story contains graphic details. Reader discretion is advised.
A teenager who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a retired kindergarten teacher in Pickering, Ont., last summer had been suspended for bringing a knife to school one day prior to the homicide, a court heard last week.
In an agreed statement of facts presented in court last week when the teen pleaded guilty, the Crown and defence outlined the circumstances surrounding the chilling, random attack on 83-year-old Eleanor Doney outside her home on May 29, 2025.
According to the document, CCTV footage from a residence across the street from Doney’s Lynn Heights home shows the victim raking leaves at around 2:55 p.m. The accused, who was 14 at the time of the attack and cannot be identified under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was spotted walking along the street wearing a long, black coat, a black face mask, and black gloves, while carrying a briefcase.
The court heard that after speaking with Doney for about two minutes, the accused retrieved a knife from his briefcase, walked up to the victim, and stabbed her in the left side of the neck.
She staggered backward, turned and fled to her home, but was chased by the suspect, who proceeded to stab her in the back, neck, and repeatedly in the face.
He fled east on Lynn Heights Drive, leaving Doney “lying on the sidewalk, twitching,” the document stated.
A few minutes later, a passerby noticed the woman lying on the ground and attempted CPR but noted that she was no longer breathing.
Paramedics transported her to Sunnybrook hospital but she was pronounced dead at around 4 p.m.
After canvassing the neighbourhood, police spoke to school administrators at a Pickering high school who informed investigators that one particular student would “routinely” wear an outfit similar to the one the perpetrator was seen wearing. That student had been suspended for five days on May 28 for bringing a knife to school, the administrators said.
The accused was arrested that same evening shortly before 8:30 p.m. at his home, which was a 53-minute walk to Doney’s residence.
A search warrant conducted at the home found the clothes the accused was wearing at the time of the homicide, along with a Cuisinart knife set with one knife missing from the package. The teen’s fingerprints were found on the packaging. Cell phones and computers were also seized from the teen’s bedroom.
Teen was interested in serial killers: doc
According to the document, Discord chats between a friend and the accused from May 2025 revealed that he had an “interest in psychopathy, killing, and serial killers” and was obsessed with a manga and anime character named Yoshikage Kira, a businessman who is secretly a serial killer in the series “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.” The teen repeatedly referred to himself as the character, the court heard.
In the chats, the agreed statement of facts read, the teen discussed “planning killings” and “getting away with the crime.” He also, according to the document, discussed the possibility of killing his own grandmother and harming animals.
Some of his internet searches that were relevant to the homicide investigation included, ‘Is Reverse Grip Good For Stabbing Down?’ and ‘The Most Sadistic Serial Killers of All Time.’
The document also noted that days prior to the homicide, he was observed on CCTV walking through another neighbourhood in Pickering wearing the same outfit at around 3 a.m. He approached two homes and retrieved a knife out of a black satchel before leaving the area.
In a report completed by a psychologist retained by the defence, they noted that the teen had experienced “fluctuations in violent ideation,” described as an “urge to kill” in the weeks before the murder.
A sentencing hearing will be held for the teen at a later date.
