Inquest into 2013 death of Sammy Yatim will be held next month

ARCHIVE:Coroner to hold inquest into Yatim's death Ontario's coroner's office says an inquest will be held into the death of a teenager who was fatally shot on an empty streetcar in 2013.

A coroner’s inquest into the death of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim, who was shot and killed by a Toronto police officer on board a streetcar in 2013, will be held next month.

Yatim was alone, holding a small knife on a streetcar downtown when he was shot multiple times by Const. James Forcillo on July 27, 2013.

His death prompted widespread public outcry over police use of force and ultimately led to Forcillo being charged with second-degree murder.

In 2016, Forcillo was found not guilty of murder in relation to the first round of shots he fired at Yatim. He was instead convicted of attempted murder for the shots fired during the second volley while the teen was lying on the floor of the TTC vehicle.

Forcillo was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and began serving time in 2017 after his appeal was unsuccessful. He was paroled in 2020.

The inquest was scheduled to begin last November but was held up by Forcillo, who argued that it should examine the possibility that Yatim died in a “suicide by cop” scenario. That theory has since been rejected by the coroner overseeing the inquest.

The inquest is set to begin on Jan. 12 and is expected to last 13 days. There are approximately 14 witnesses who are scheduled to testify.

With files from the Canadian Press.