Homeless Toronto man was stabbed in heart and died from blood loss, teens' murder trial hears

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

A homeless Toronto man who was allegedly swarmed by a group of teens two years ago died due to blood loss after he was stabbed in the heart, the trial of two girls accused in his death has heard.

The forensic pathologist who examined Kenneth Lee’s body found it was “highly unlikely” the 59-year-old could have survived the injury, a “very large, multi-branched wound” that she said could consist of one or two cuts.

Lee bled into his chest and experienced hemorrhagic shock – the progressive death of internal organs due to blood loss, Dr. Magdaleni Bellis said.

Bellis also found Lee had another, smaller stab wound by his armpit as well as more than a dozen bruises and other blunt force injuries, none of which would have caused his death, she said.

Court has heard one of the two girls on trial was found with two small scissors when she was arrested, but Bellis told the court it was “not very likely” those scissors would have caused the fatal wound.

“The cutting edge appears short compared to the wound in the body,” she testified. The scissors could have caused the smaller stab wound, however, she said.

Bellis presented her findings to the court before trial began, but her evidence was only made public Friday.

Court has heard Lee died on the operating table in the early hours of Dec. 18, 2022, after he was beaten and stabbed in a downtown Toronto parkette.

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Eight girls between the ages of 13 and 16 were arrested in the hours that followed his death. Two of the girls, who were 14 and 16 at the time, are currently on trial and have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

On Friday, prosecutors alleged the younger girl pulled a knife from the sleeve of her jacket as she pushed through the melee and stabbed Lee in the final stretch of the confrontation.

The Crown had previously pointed to her as the person responsible for the fatal wound but had not specified when they allege it occurred or with what.

Court heard Friday the group wandered around Union Station after they left the parkette, and security footage shows them loitering and play fighting in several locations.

At one point, some of the girls – including the two accused – shot cellphone videos of themselves dancing and twerking. In one video, a red stain can be seen on the ankle of the 14-year-old accused’s sweatpants.

As the group is horsing around shortly after 1 a.m., a boy who was with them on and off throughout the night is injured with what prosecutors alleged was a sharp object, court heard.

Prosecutors showed several photos of the younger accused girl picking up an object with a blue end from the floor at Union Station while security staff tend to the boy. The Crown alleges the item is a knife.

The detective leading the investigation told the court Friday that no object similar to that one was recovered.

Earlier Friday, a paramedic who took Lee to hospital testified she didn’t immediately realize he had been stabbed.

Jennifer Ellis told the court Lee looked like he had been hit in the face but was alert and communicating well. The pair checked Lee’s back for injuries before trying to get him on a stretcher and didn’t see any injuries there, she said.

Lee told them he needed to have a bowel movement and stepped away to do that, but he collapsed moments later, Ellis testified. It was only once they were in the ambulance that her partner noticed two penetrating injuries they assumed were stab wounds, she said.

Three of the eight girls arrested in the case pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter and one to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon.

A jury trial is scheduled in May for two other girls who are charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.