‘There may be additional victims’: Peel police release new details about ‘unprovoked’ homicide in Mississauga

Police are on the scene of a fatal assault at a plaza near Dixie Road and Dundas Street East in Mississauga on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Jacob Estrin)

Peel police are revealing new details about a pair of “random and unprovoked” assaults in Mississauga last month that left one victim dead and the other seriously injured.

Officers were called to a commercial plaza near Dundas Street East and Dixie Road at 7:40 p.m. on Jan. 30 after a suspect allegedly approached a woman and struck her with a metal rod multiple times.

When emergency crews arrived at the scene, the woman was found to have serious injuries. She was transported to hospital where she was pronounced deceased. Police previously said that the victim was in a tent in front of an auction store when she was approached.

“She was trying to get there to be first in line for the following day,” Halfyard said. The victim and suspect were not known to one another.

Ten minutes before that encounter, police said the investigation determined that the same suspect allegedly assaulted a male with a metal rod who was waiting at a bus stop in the area. The victim, who does not know the suspect, was left with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said 58-year-old Kent McKerron was arrested following the attacks and charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault. The motive behind both attacks is unknown.

In an update on Thursday, police said they are looking for an additional male victim who the accused “had contact” with prior to the homicide.

He’s described as white and was wearing a green jacket and blue jeans and a black toque at the time of the encounter.

“Investigators believe there may be additional victims whom the accused either assaulted or attempted to assault and are appealing to anyone who may have been a victim, or witnessed the accused prior to the incidents or has dash camera footage, to contact the Homicide Bureau at 905-453-2121, extension 3205,” police said.