Toronto man who killed, decapitated mother sentenced to life in prison, no parole for 13 years

Final arguments at trial of man for killing mom Dallas Ly admits to killing his mother Tien Ly, but has pleaded not guilty to murder, citing a diagnosis of PTSD from childhood abuse.

An Ontario man found guilty of killing and decapitating his mother in 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 13 years.

Superior Court Justice Paul Thomas O'Marra handed the sentence to 23-year-old Dallas Ly in a downtown Toronto courtroom on Wednesday, the Crown confirmed to CTV News Toronto.

At the outset of his May trial, Ly admitted to causing the death of his mother, Tien Ly, but pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Tien died in March 2022 after being stabbed multiple times at a residence at Carlaw Avenue and Dundas Street East. She was 46.

Ly was arrested days later, on April 2, near Yonge and Dundas streets.

Back in May, Ly testified that on the day his mother died, the two had been engaged in an argument. Ly had just informed his mother he intended to move out and live with his aunt, he told the court. His mother became enraged, threatened to kill both him and his aunt, and struck him, Dallas said. He reacted by grabbing a knife and swinging it at her, he testified.

Tien fell to the floor, Dallas told the court. After realizing he’d killed his mother, he returned to his bedroom, where he stayed for several hours. At multiple points during this period, the court heard he attempted to call his mother’s phone.

Later that day, Dallas decapitated Tien, put her head and dismembered body parts in garbage bags and disposed of them using a shopping cart, on Eastern Avenue in east Toronto. According to his testimony, he intended to take the body to Tommy Thompson Park, which he’d previously searched on a browser, but he said he hit a curb and that the body began to fall out. He abandoned his plan, he told the court, left the body parts on the side of the road, and went home.

At trial, Lawyers for Ly argued that he suffered years of abuse at the hands of Tien, who he said asserted significant control over his life, and that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his mother’s treatment of him. The Crown disputed the onset of the PTSD diagnosis, arguing that the murder spurred the condition, rather than the years leading up to it.

According to prosecutors, Ly killed his mother out of anger and as a form of retribution for her tight grip on his life.

“She was cruel and she abused him,” Ly’s lawyer, Jessyca Greenwood, told the jury back in May. She said that, until the spring of 2022, Ly had never fought back against his mother, describing him as a “soft-spoken” and “mild-mannered” individual.

“He was raised to keep [his mother’s conduct] a secret. He believed it was normal, [...] that he deserved it,” Greenwood said.

Crown prosecutor Jay Spare tested that narrative, putting the question to the jury: “If he didn't intend to kill her, why didn’t he do anything to prevent her from dying?”

“She laid there in a pool of blood, he didn’t try and save her, he didn’t call 911, he just went and washed his hands, as if the result was what he intended,” Spare said in his closing remarks.

On May 22, the jury handed their verdict to Ly – guilty of second-degree murder – and with it, a life sentence.

The sole issue at hand at Wednesday’s sentencing was the length of time Ly would be required to wait before eligible to apply for parole. Spare argued that 15 years would be appropriate, while Greenwood asked for between 10 and 12 years.

As part of Wednesday’s sentencing, Ly was also issued a DNA order and a lifetime weapons ban. O’Marra also recommended he receives psychiatric support while in prison.