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The man who stabbed a teenaged boy to death at a TTC subway station in March of 2023, the same night he sent texts to friends that “someones dying TN,” and “I stabbed someone and got away with it,” has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a Toronto courtroom.
According to numerous sources, Jordan O’Brien-Tobin, 22, entered the guilty plea Wednesday in court. He had originally been charged with first-degree murder in the case, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
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The 16-year-old victim, Gabriel Magalhaes, was on his way home with a friend on March 25 last year when he was attacked at Keele Station in the city’s west end. The stabbing was unprovoked, according to an agreed statement of facts. However, text messages from the killer’s phone suggest he was planning to kill someone that night.
According to the agreed statement, Magalhaes and his friend were sitting on a bench at ground level in the station at around 8:53 p.m. when O’Brien-Tobin walked down a nearby set of stairs.
Security footage showed him turning and looking at the pair, according to court documents. He then briefly exited the station, but continued to watch the victim and his friend through a set of doors.
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He then reached into his backpack for a knife, according to the agreed statement, before coming back inside the station and heading for Magalhaes.
“Unprovoked and with no exchange of words, the accused stabbed Gabriel in the chest with the knife,” the statement reads. “He then walked away, exiting the subway station.” He was arrested the next day.
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Magalhaes was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:46 p.m. that night. An autopsy revealed the knife had punctured his left lung and heart.
Assistant Crown attorneys Karen Simone and Amanda Nash told Justice Kelly the Crown would be asking for a period of parole ineligibility of 18 years, Global News reported. Defence lawyers Robert Cutruzolla and Jeffrey Berman said they would suggest that O’Brien-Tobin serve between 10 and 14 years before being eligible for parole.
Second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence in Canada, but a judge can decide on the timeframe before an individual can apply for parole.
A sentencing hearing has been set for February 2025.
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