Widow of man who drowned at Westboro Beach praises those who saved her son
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In a post to a Westboro community Facebook group, Amanda Laflair said she and her family were not OK, but said she was 'grateful so very grateful my sone is alive.' Laflair also thanked the emergency responders and medical professionals in the post.
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'God bless you guardian angels for helping to save my baby,' Laflair wrote.
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Laflair confirmed to CBC News that the man who drowned Wednesday was 42-year old Rowell Navarro. The Ottawa Police Service could not confirm the name of the deceased to the Ottawa Citizen.
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The Ottawa Citizen attempted to contact Laflair, but did not hear back in time for publication.
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Laflair has set up a GoFundMe page, writing that she, 'Tragically lost my husband when he drowned trying to save our 8 year old son.'
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Laflair said she is raising funds to help pay for the funeral and support the family, as she will be unable to work.
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The incident occurred near Westboro Beach on July 2 at about 1:40 p.m.
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'When crews arrived on scene it was confirmed that an 8-year old child was safely rescued from the water,' Paul Hutt, chief for the Ottawa Fire Services, said in a statement. 'However, an adult male who entered the water had gone missing.'
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Hutt said that at approximately 2:25 p.m., the man was located through a grid search and using SONAR (sound navigation and ranging).
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'While the incident occurred near Westboro Beach, it did not take place at the beach site, and City lifeguards stationed at the beach were not involved in the response,' the statement continued.
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The father and son were swimming away from the public beach because they had the family dog with them at the time, Laflair wrote on her GoFundMe page.
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Const. Fern John-Simon, spokesperson for the Ottawa Police Service, confirmed to the Ottawa Citizen that the incident occurred outside the sightline of lifeguards working at the beach.
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Hutt also shared 'heartfelt condolences' to the deceased's family and loved ones.
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'Our thoughts are with those impacted by this incident,' Hutt said.
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According to John-Simon, the adult man and his child were swimming before they were in distress. At the time, police said, a passerby walking by heard the father and child struggling, and they went into the water to rescue the child.
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Toronto Sun
12 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
MANDEL: Eight swarming girls, not one sentenced to further jail time in slaying of Ken Lee
With the final teen sentenced, all received different periods of probation for the heinous 2022 killing of a homeless man Get the latest from Michele Mandel straight to your inbox Ken Lee, centre, seen here with his family, was stabbed to death during a swarming in downtown Toronto on Dec. 18, 2022. Photo by Handout / GoFundMe Rowdy, drunk and high, the wild pack of troubled young girls met up at Yorkdale before hopping on the subway to head downtown. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account By the end of the night, after what a judge would call 'brazen, feral and immature' attacks on other commuters, being thrown out of TTC stations, and shoplifting, the vicious girls savagely swarmed a defenceless homeless man across from Union Station, leaving him with a fatal stab wound to the heart and 19 injuries from blunt-force trauma. And for that, not one would be sentenced to more time in custody than what they had already spent before being released on bail. It was around midnight – five days before Christmas 2022 – when Kenneth Lee, 59, arrived at the narrow parkette at the corner of Front and York Sts. with his partner Erika Tong, who was staying at the nearby shelter in the Strathcona Hotel. When he left her alone for a few minutes, the teens harassed Tong and stole her bottle of booze. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When Lee returned, he told the girls to leave her alone. They pounced on him seconds later – three minutes and 20 seconds of senseless mob violence that unfolded in three waves that killed the man and shocked the city. None of these girls, aged 13 to 16 at the time, can be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. All were arrested for second-degree murder, seven would plead guilty to lesser charges, and the eighth would be acquitted of murder at her judge-alone trial and convicted instead of manslaughter. All spent time in custody before sentencing – but none would get further jail time after both Ontario Court Justice David Rose and Superior Court Justice Philip Campbell found their rights were violated by unwarranted strip searches while in youth detention. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Six of the girls had the gall to argue that their charges should be thrown out because of the Charter violations – which both judges rejected, saying a sentence reduction was the more appropriate remedy. These teens, though, were never going to be locked up for as long as some in the outraged public would demand. The YCJA requires judges to recognize the diminished moral culpability of kids under 18 to reflect uncontradicted evidence that their brains are not fully developed and they're more susceptible to peer pressure – and more susceptible to positive change with the right counselling. In the end, the longest any of the girls spent in custody for the horrific beating and stabbing of a vulnerable homeless man was credited at 20 months. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ken Lee, who died after being stabbed in downtown Toronto, allegedly by a group of teenaged girls. Photo by Handout / Toronto Police Just after 9:30 pm on Dec. 17, 2022, the 13-year-old was seen with the other girls on the Yorkdale Subway platform running with a blue-handled knife. After play fighting, she handed the knife off to another in the group as they all boarded the southbound train to St. George. She admitted lunging and yelling at two male passengers and chasing them down the platform. She and her friends got kicked out of the station – only to re-enter and harass another passenger before catching the subway to St. Andrew. At the downtown station, she admitted trying to assault two women, but she was restrained by some of her friends – though she doesn't recall that part of the night. By 11:53 pm, the group arrived in the parkette at the foot of University Ave. A security video camera mounted on an office building captured the entire attack. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The judge found she was a 'very active participant in the swarming. She was aggressive throughout, landing multiple punches on Mr. Lee,' but she didn't have a weapon or deliver the fatal stab to the heart. Diagnosed with a Persistent Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Eating Disorder, Cannabis Use Disorder (which is in early remission), and Conduct Disorder, her parents split when she was five years old. At 12, she began smoking marijuana daily. She also seriously abused alcohol: She was hospitalized after attempting suicide by alcohol poisoning and in the months before the swarming, she blacked out five to six times. According to her pre-sentence report, she regretted the incident but also believed Lee put his hand on one of the girls and deserved to be beaten. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While initially in custody, she was strip searched six times, and briefly left totally naked on four occasions. To comply with a judicial order banning the strip searches, she was then placed in segregation for 24 hours. After her release on bail, she was rearrested in February 2024 on charges she stabbed a TTC commuter at Wilson station – to which she later pleaded guilty. She was the first to plead guilty to manslaughter in the OCJ on May 30, 2024. Rose credited her with 15 months in custody for the 218 days she actually spent in open custody and 53 days in closed, and sentenced her to 21 months probation in the Intensive Support and Supervision Program (ISSP). 'I find (she) is at a real risk to re-offend violently if she is not given the benefit of extensive treatment and counselling in the next few years,' Rose said at the time. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More The teen with the long ponytail and fake eyelashes admitted that at the tender age of 13, she kicked Lee, threw a plastic water bottle at him and ' forcefully ' hit him twice in the head area with a green bag as he lay ' crumpled on the ground having just collapsed after being swarmed and attacked ' and ' was trying to protect his head from the onslaught of kicks, stomps and punches ' still being rained down on him by the others. She pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm i n the OCJ on June 4, 2024, ahead of her trial. Taking her three strip searches into account, Rose sentenced her to 12 months probation on Sept. 24, 2024. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She was 14 and one of the ringleaders when she joined up with the marauding teens creating mayhem on the subway and hit a woman outside the TTC's St. Andrews subway station. She stole a swig of booze from Tong and c ontinually hit Lee with her white shopping bag of ice. ' And even after he's on the ground and adults are breaking it off, she's still stomping on his head, ' Crown attorney Sarah De Filippis would say. ' She was one of the most violent in the group. She was dedicated to this attack and she was relentless, even to the last minutes when he was crumpled on the ground. ' Still frighteningly clueless, t he pigtailed teen had no remorse and minimized her role to an almost ' ludicrous degree,' the prosecutor said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Apprehended at nine months by child protection and raised by her loving grandmother, she was physically assaulted and sexually abused by her peers, with both incidents uploaded to social media, and she's been diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD and marijuana abuse and ' normalized stealing,' Rose said in his judgment. More concerning, he said, is her ' disturbing complete lack of acceptance of responsibility ' in comments she made in a court report: she called Lee ' a piece of s—, ' said ' I don't care ' about what happened, and it was ' not that serious ' to warrant a plea to manslaughter. Yet, she wrote an apology letter to the court and told her probation officer she feels bad for what she did. She ' tells different versions about this event depending on who she is speaking to, ' the judge concluded. ' Her acceptance of responsibility is nowhere near complete. ' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She pleaded guilty on June 24, 2024 to manslaughter and was sentenced Jan 28, 2025 to two years probation under the ISSP. She was credited with 15 months in pre-sentence custody after being strip searched seven times. RECOMMENDED VIDEO GIRL 4 (vise grips girl) The 13-year-old who met up with the other girls at Yorkdale subway station around 9 p.m. was smoking marijuana daily and was 'blackout drunk.' On the subway she was seen brandishing a pair of vise grip pliers and was part of an assault on two women at St. Andrews station. At the parkette, she w ielded the vise grips during her assault on Lee, hitting him from above about the head and upper torso area while he was pinned against a concrete wall. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the OCJ on June 17, 2024. She was sentenced by Rose to a 15-month ISSP probation order on Sept. 16, 2024, after serving 243 days of pre-sentence custody, being strip searched seven times and flown in the middle of the night 1,900 km away to Kenora when the sprinklers malfunctioned at Marjorie Amos detention centre in Brampton. The 16-year-old had been consuming Crown Royal and marijuana that night and was seen trying to stop some of the girls from assaulting strangers as they headed downtown. She was only involved in the last 23 seconds of the assault on Lee by raising a pylon over her head and hitting him with it three times. She went on trial for second-degree murder in the Superior Court of Justice earlier this year. Just as lawyers were scheduled to present closing arguments, she was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter on Feb. 18 after the Crown made the surprising acknowledgment that prosecutors couldn't prove murder. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. ' No words can undo what happened, ' she told the court in her apology letter. ' My actions took away something sacred, something irreplaceable. ' Campbell sentenced her on May 16 to 15 months probation after she spent 288 days in custody and underwent six strip searches. RECOMMENDED VIDEO GIRL 6 (the bottle stealer) The 16-year-old pulled the hair of two Asian women on the subway ride downtown that night and unwittingly set the swarming in motion when she stole the bottle of booze from Tong. She admitted throwing a cup at Lee during the attack and filming his bloodied face before leaving the parkette. When she returned after the deadliest part of the assault, a shelter worker asked her to flag down an ambulance, which she did. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Her lawyer told the court she's finally on track to graduate from high school with hopes of attending college. Her trial for manslaughter was to begin May 5, 2025, in Superior Court but she pleaded guilty to assault on April 4 and was sentenced by Campbell to nine months probation after finding she'd been strip searched and her role in the swarming was 'relatively low.' GIRL 7 The teen, 14 at the time, was high on alcohol and marijuana, and was one of the least responsible in the violent attack : she wasn't armed, she had earlier tried to calm her co- accused and only became involved in the final phase of the swarming when she mistakenly believed Lee had initiated an assault on her friend, when he was really trying to defend himself. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The agreed statement said she 'hit, punched, kicked and filmed' Lee. The girl, diagnosed with PTSD, ADHD, conduct disorder and oppositional disorder, pleaded guilty to manslaughter before Campbell on May 5, 2025, the day her trial was set to begin in Superior Court. She was sentenced on June 26 to 12 months probation. Of the eight accused , she spent the most time in custody – 345 days – which Campbell credited to 18 months. GIRL 8 (the stabber) The alleged stabber, 14 at the time, tried to plead to manslaughter before her judge-alone trial earlier this year on second-degree murder charges but it was rejected by the Crown. On May 30, Campbell convicted her of manslaughter, finding she stabbed Lee shallowly under the armpit with eyebrow scissors and was lunging toward him again, but he couldn't conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that she inflicted the deep, fatal blow. Following a heartfelt apology and demonstrated progress, she was credited on Aug. 1 with 20 months for her 240 days in custody and four illegal strip searches. Campbell sentenced her to 16 months probation – with up to 12 months in the ISSP. mmandel@ Toronto Blue Jays Canada World Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
19 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
3 escaped Grenadian prisoners sentenced in killing of U.S. yachting couple
Published Aug 01, 2025 • 1 minute read The families of Kathy Brandel and Ralph Hendry fear the yachting couple were murdered by escaped convicts in the Caribbean. GOFUNDME Photo by GoFundMe SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Three escaped prisoners from the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada who were accused of killing an elderly U.S. couple last year after hijacking their catamaran have been sentenced. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Ron Mitchell, a sailor in his 30s who was accused of being the ringleader, received two life sentences late Wednesday in the killings of Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel. Atiba Stanislaus, a farmer in his late 20s, received 60 years for manslaughter and nearly 18 years for the rape of Brandel, among other sentences, for a variety of crimes including kidnapping. Trevon Robertson, an unemployed man in his early 20s, received 56 years for manslaughter and other sentences for different crimes, according to local media reports. The New Today , a local newspaper, reported that prosecutors said the men bound and gagged the couple before throwing them overboard, with Mitchell accused of steering the yacht over Hendry. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The two bodies were never found. Police at the time said the men had escaped in late February 2024 from the South Saint George Police Station. They hijacked the catamaran Simplicity on the following day and then headed to nearby St. Vincent, where they were arrested, according to authorities. The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association had said that Hendry and Brandel were 'veteran cruisers' and longtime members of the association, calling them 'warm-hearted and capable.' It said the couple was spending the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean. Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays Columnists Celebrity Canada
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
A Calgary woman was unable to complete a breathalyzer test. Now, she can't drive
A Calgary woman says she had her driver's licence suspended after being unable to complete a breathalyzer test — and some experts say the situation is more common than you might think. Pam Lacusta, 58, was driving on Stoney Trail in April when she was pulled over by Calgary police, who administered a breathalyzer test. Lacusta attempted the test 30 times and couldn't complete it. The officer handed her an administrative penalty for failing to provide a proper breath sample — a penalty that carries the same consequences as driving while impaired. Now, Lacusta must complete a driver's education course and install an interlock device in her car before she can drive again. Her prior insurance now refuses to cover her. "I feel like I'm being punished for something that I never did," said Lacusta, who said she doesn't drink for religious reasons. Later on the day she was ticketed, Lacusta took a urine test at a private clinic at her own expense to prove she wasn't drinking. She sent CBC News a copy of the negative results. Edmonton-based paralegal Sandra Weber said she hears of situations like Lacusta's fairly regularly. Weber said people may struggle to complete a roadside test due to medical conditions like lung cancer or asthma, compounded by the stress of completing a test in front of an officer. Once someone has received a penalty for failing to complete a breathalyzer, she said, it can be difficult to fight. "It's up to the recipient … to prove that there was something wrong with the machine or something that the police had done wrong," said Weber, who works with Moreau Law. "It's a very challenging situation and without any medical evidence it's very difficult to overcome these types of tickets." Lacusta did appeal her penalty with a provincial adjudicator, who turned her down. Lacusta said her difficulty with the test may have been due to a recent Botox injection that kept her from making a proper seal with her mouth. She also later learned that she had two suspected rib fractures, but not in time to include that information in her appeal. 'Not enough puff' Recent research out of the University of Sheffield in the U.K. suggests there may be people without severe lung or breathing problems who nevertheless struggle to complete breathalyzer tests. "There is a small, but significant, subset of people who just don't have enough puff to be able to operate the machine successfully," said lead researcher Galen Ives, who noted that older people, short people and women are more likely to struggle. Ives said police should be more willing to offer blood or urine tests as an alternative to people who try and fail to complete breathalyzer tests, though he acknowledged there would be practical hurdles to testing at a second location. A spokesperson for the Calgary Police Service said she couldn't comment on Lacusta's situation, but said anyone who believes they are medically unable to complete a breathalyzer test should tell the officer at the scene. A spokesperson for the provincial minister of justice said if people can't provide breath samples they may be asked to provide blood or urine samples "where certain legal requirements are met." Lacusta said blood and urine tests were not offered in her situation, and she believes they should be more widely available to people who can't provide a breath sample. For now, she's relying on her friends and her bicycle to get around the city, but still hopes to fight her penalty and have her clean driving record restored.
