Jordan O’Brien-Tobin, 22, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2023 death of 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes in a Toronto subway station
The man who stabbed a teenaged boy to death at a TTC subway station in March of 2023, the same night he sent texts to friends that “someones dying TN,” and “I stabbed someone and got away with it,” has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Toronto courtroom.
The 16-year-old victim, Gabriel Magalhaes, was on his way home with a friend on March 25 last year when he was attacked at Keele Station in the city’s west end. The stabbing was unprovoked, according to an agreed statement of facts. However, text messages from the killer’s phone suggest he was planning to kill someone that night.
According to the agreed statement, Magalhaes and his friend were sitting on a bench at ground level in the station at around 8:53 p.m. when O’Brien-Tobin walked down a nearby set of stairs.
Security footage showed him turning and looking at the pair, according to court documents. He then briefly exited the station, but continued to watch the victim and his friend through a set of doors.
He then reached into his backpack for a knife, according to the agreed statement, before coming back inside the station and heading for Magalhaes.
“Unprovoked and with no exchange of words, the accused stabbed Gabriel in the chest with the knife,” the statement reads. “He then walked away, exiting the subway station.” He was arrested the next day.
Magalhaes was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m. that night. An autopsy revealed the knife had punctured his left lung and heart.
Second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence in Canada, but a judge can decide on the timeframe before an individual can apply for parole.
A sentencing hearing has been set for February 2025.
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