The 28-year-old man charged with the attempted murder of a 5-year-old Brampton, Ont. boy appeared in court on Friday. Dyon Smart has been remanded in custody and will make his next court appearance on July 25.

According to neighbours, Smart is the child’s mother’s ex-boyfriend and had been staying at their home.

Outside the McHardy Court townhouse complex where they live, a vigil of flowers and toys that started Thursday continued to grow into Friday evening.

“To be honest, I don’t know how she feels,” a man told CTV Toronto, speaking of the child’s mother. He had come with his own five-year-old son to leave a teddy bear. The two children, he added, are friends.

“It’s hard.”

Early Thursday morning, Peel Regional Police received a call about a missing child. Soon after, a K9 officer found the unconscious boy near train tracks close to his home with clear signs of physical trauma. Smart was arrested several hours later.

The child, who sustained head injuries, remains in critical but stable condition at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Smart has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, failure to comply with recognizance and breach of probation order. Smart is already facing charges in a separate case involving a 2017 stabbing at the same townhouse complex.

“(I) just hope everything’s good, that he’s going to make it though and that his mom is OK too,” a neighbour told CTV Toronto. “I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.”

With files from CTV Toronto’s John Musselman