‘A pervasive scourge on society': Ontario man handed sentence for girlfriend's murder

Global News

30-04-2025

A Toronto man has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years after pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of his girlfriend, less than a year after she called police to report he had assaulted her and threatened to kill her.
On April 3, on the eve of his trial for the first-degree Murder of Brittany Doff, Kadeem Nedrick pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of second-degree murder. Doff was stabbed to death on Jan. 3, 2022, inside the Little Italy apartment she shared with Nedrick in front of the couple's four-year-old son.
Crown prosecutors had asked for a parole ineligibility period between 18 and 20 years, arguing there were elements of planning and deliberation, while the defence's position was a period of 12 to 13 years was appropriate, calling it an impulsive act.
Superior Court Justice Michael Brown told court he was unable to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence established planning and deliberation, though he found there was evidence of ongoing hostility and animus between Nedrick and Doff.
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Court heard the couple had a tumultuous history during their eight year on-and-off again relationship.
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Sentencing hearing for man who admitted to fatally stabbing girlfriend
According to an agreed statement of facts, in the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2022, the 30-year-old mother fled her Grace Street apartment because Nedrick was being verbally aggressive. Doff texted one friend and reported that she was afraid that Nedrick would physically abuse her and asked her friend to come over.
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Doff then called another friend and said Nedrick had woken her up and was questioning why she wasn't in the same bed. Doff told her friend Nedrick was scaring and freaking her out and said she wanted to leave. Her friend called her a rideshare and Doff went to her mother's house.
Later that evening, after asking the second friend to accompany her home, Doff went downstairs to retrieve her belongings and tuck her son in. She was stabbed twice in the chest. One stab wound perforated her heart. The friend was also threatened with a knife.
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After the friend called 911, she went downstairs and found the couple's child, who is autistic and non-verbal, standing over his mother, moaning and crying. Nedrick, who also called 911, was arrested in front of the home.
On the phone to 911 operators and again to police officers who took him into custody, he confessed to stabbing his 'wife.'
At the time of the fatal stabbing, Nedrick was out on bail for a previous assault against Doff. According to the facts, Nedrick physically assaulted Doff in February 2021 and threatened to throw her off the balcony. Their son, who was three at the time, was present.
On Oct. 6, 2021, Nedrick was accepted into the Partner Assault Response Services (PARS) for anger management and was told if he completed the program, the charges would be withdrawn and he would enter into a peace bond. Nedrick had three sessions left at the time of the murder.
According to the facts, just three days prior to the fatal stabbing, Nedrick also threatened Doff with an object and told her 'she was lucky to be alive.'
A friend of Nedrick's, whom called police after the murder, said that on New Year's Eve, Nedrick told him 'I think about killing her everyday … I think about poking her up and burying her in the backyard.' Poking her up is a slang for stabbing her.
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Brown said the murder involved a measure of brutality and shocking violence in front of the couple's son. He also noted that Nedrick had a dated record from 2014 for drug trafficking and breaching court orders.
The judge said the guilty plea was a mitigating factor, which he accepted was an expression of remorse.
'Intimate partner violence is a pervasive scourge on society with often devastating consequence for those who experience it along with their loved ones. Everyone is entitled to live their lives free of harm and violence. Ms. Doff experienced both at the hands of Mr. Nedrick in her own home,' said Brown.
Crown prosecutors asked for a non-contact order between Nedrick and the couple's son, who court heard is now in the care of the Children's Aid Society, until the completion of Nedrick's sentence. Nedrick will be eligible to apply for parole on Jan. 3, 2037.
'On the limited record before me on this issue, I'm not in the position to say that between today and 2037, it will be in his best interest not to have contact with Nedrick. That is more appropriate to leave that determination to a family court to make the determination about the child's best interest in terms of his future contact with Nedrick,' said Brown.
Nedrick was also given a lifetime weapons prohibition, a DNA order and a non-communication order with the family of Doff.