Girl accused in death of homeless Toronto man dropped marker, not knife: defence

Crown prosecutor Mary Humphrey, left to right, defence lawyer Ayderus Alawi, Alawi's accused client, defence lawyer Boris Bytensky, defence lawyer Kathryn Doyle, Bytensky and Doyle's accused client, Justice Phillip Campbell and Toronto police Det. Rodney Benson appear in a courtroom sketch made in Toronto, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Alexandra Newbould

TORONTO — Defence lawyers for a teen girl accused of fatally stabbing a homeless man in Toronto two years ago argued Monday that an item seen falling out of her pocket after the incident was not a knife but a marker.

The girl is one of two teens on trial in the alleged murder of Kenneth Lee, who died on Dec. 18, 2022 after he was beaten and stabbed in a downtown Toronto parkette. Both girls, who were 14 and 16 at the time, have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Court has seen security video of a group of teens, including the two accused, violently swarming Lee until a shelter employee intervenes and breaks up the fight.

Prosecutors allege the younger girl stabbed Lee with a knife in the final moments of the confrontation, but the lead detective in the case acknowledged Monday that Lee doesn’t make any particular movements that would indicate he’s been stabbed.

Getting a clear and comprehensive sense of what happened in the parkette has been one of the central challenges of the investigation, Det. Rodney Benson said.

“There’s so much going on,” he noted.

The Crown has pointed to two videos where it alleges the younger teen is seen with a knife after the incident.

Security and cellphone videos played in court show the group wandering around Union Station after leaving the parkette, until a teen boy who was with them for part of the night is injured with what the Crown alleges is a sharp object.

As security staff tend to the boy, an object with a blue end can be seen falling out of the younger accused girl’s pocket, and she bends down to pick it up. Prosecutors alleged last week that the item is a knife.

No similar object was ever recovered as part of the investigation, nor did officers ever find a knife, Benson testified.

On Monday, defence counsel for the younger girl showed video of her arrest captured on an officer’s body-worn camera. In the video, the officer removes several items from the girl’s jacket, including a Sharpie marker. A Sharpie with a blue cap can later be seen in a pile of the girl’s belongings.

Asked whether the object seen falling out of the girl’s pocket at Union Station could be a Sharpie, Benson said he “can’t disprove” that possibility.

“That’s certainly an explanation for it,” the detective said in cross-examination.

Prosecutors also allege the same girl dropped a knife outside the station as the group was walking in the area, but defence lawyers argued that object was in fact a marijuana grinder – which they said the teen had with her when she was arrested.

Two small scissors and a pair of tweezers were also found on the girl at the time of her arrest, court has heard.

Blood was found on two areas of one of the scissors, but forensic tests couldn’t identify who it belonged to, according to an agreed statements of fact read Monday. Blood was also detected on three areas of the girl’s jacket, including the front pocket, but Lee was excluded as the source, court heard.

An autopsy found that Lee, 59, died due to blood loss after he was stabbed in the heart. The forensic psychologist who examined his body said the fatal wound was large and made up of one or two cuts.

Dr. Magdaleni Bellis told the court last week it was “not very likely” that the scissors found on the teen would have caused that wound because the blades seemed short in comparison.

The scissors could have caused a smaller stab wound near Lee’s armpit that did not contribute to his death, Bellis said.

Eight girls were arrested and charged in the hours after Lee’s death. Since then, three have pleaded guilty to manslaughter and one to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Two other girls are set to face a trial by jury in May, one on a charge of second-degree murder and the other on a charge of manslaughter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Feb. 10, 2025.