Toronto man found guilty of murdering ex-girlfriend in 2022
A Toronto man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, who was killed days after she tried unsuccessfully to report his threats to police.
On Thursday, Dylon Dowman was found guilty by a jury at the Superior Court of Justice of murdering 23-year-old Daniella Mallia in a Toronto underground garage in August of 2022.
Dowman, 35, will receive an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years
Mallia had called police three days before her death to report that Dowman had been threatening and harassing her in text messages following their breakup, according to police documents.
The police officers who responded to the call dismissed it as a case of "he-said, she-said," the documents said. Their lack of action caused public outrage and led them to be charged with misconduct-related offences under the Ontario Police Act.
One of the officers involved, Sang Youb Lee, was demoted for a year following a disciplinary tribunal. Charges against the second officer, Const. Anson Alfonso, remain outstanding.
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Toronto Star
31-05-2025
- Toronto Star
‘Somebody was stabbed and he's dead': Unheard testimony and video footage from the girl swarm case
'I put my arm up, the knife went in.' Everyone had waited for this, to hear what the 16-year-old boy would say on the witness stand. This wasn't the trial for the girl accused of stabbing and killing Kenneth Lee, but instead the preliminary hearing, a kind of dress rehearsal involving all eight of the girls and their lawyers a year earlier. This is where legal issues — including whether the girls should stand trial — got ironed out. The boy had never agreed to speak to police. So, his testimony, seven days into the hearing, was a discovery of what he knew and what he would say at trial. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW He would never be called to testify at the Superior Court of Justice at the only trial that would go ahead — not once the Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers learned what he had to say. The girls had been drinking and smoking weed that night and were not acting like themselves, he said, which could have hurt the Crown's case that the girl intentionally harmed Lee. And, the boy said — unhelpfully for her defence — the girl who was accused of stabbing Lee, had a knife that injured him during a play fight, after the swarming attack. 'Your daughter's been arrested for murder': How a mother learned about her teen's role in Kenneth Lee's killing That testimony has, until now, been under a publication ban. On Friday, Justice Philip Campbell found the girl prosecutors tried to pin Lee's stabbing on not-guilty of murder, saying there was reasonable doubt she fatally wounded him. The decision brings to a close the prosecution against eight teen girls, ages 13 to 16 at the time, who were part of the swarming attack. But with none of them guilty of murder, the question remains: Who stabbed Kenneth Lee? This story details never before publicized evidence — how the girls themselves initially blamed one amongst them for the stabbing; how one of their friends testified that he himself was accidentally stabbed; and how a police interview unfolded with the accused stabber, one that was never admitted at trial. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW None of the young people can be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Kenneth Lee was visiting the parkette with a friend when their paths crossed with the girls, who swarmed him and at least one of whom stabbed him. Toronto Police Service In May 2024, the teen boy, under oath, said he'd known the girls he was hanging out with that night for a couple of months. He identified himself in video surveillance footage with them throughout the night of Dec. 17 and early morning hours of Dec. 18, 2022, following Lee's death. First, he was captured on the Yorkdale station subway platform where he and several girls could be seen chasing each other, playfully, up and down the tunnel. He was asked to identify what two of the girls could be seen holding: 'A knife,' he said. The court heard earlier this month, when one of the girls pleaded guilty to manslaughter, that she threw that knife onto the subway tracks 'because she didn't want anything dangerous to happen.' That fact was entered as part of an agreed statement that the Crown said they could neither prove nor disprove. Following the attack on Lee, video footage shown at the preliminary hearing showed the group of teens continued to loiter downtown, in an office lobby on Bay Street and outside, taking videos of themselves laughing and dancing. The girl accused of stabbing Lee, in one video, mimics stomping motions towards the cellphone camera, with what looks to be red blood stains visible on her grey sweatpants. Video surveillance footage of the attack on Lee shows the girl jumping with both feet and appearing to stomp on Lee as he is backed into a concrete planter in the parkette. Just over an hour after the attack on Lee, shortly after 1 a.m., the teens returned to Union Station where some of them began play fighting outside, the boy recounted when asked to review surveillance footage of the moment in court. It was hard to see exactly what happens from the video angle, but at one point the boy can be seen in the video bent over as the girls gather around him. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW A plan drawing of the parkette where Kenneth Lee was fatally stabbed and the surrounding area that was entered as an exhibit in court. Court exhibit The boy told the court that he was accidentally stabbed by the girl who would later be on trial for stabbing Lee — 'Wrong movements at the wrong time,' he told the court. A knife sliced through his right forearm, he said. The girls helped him get inside the station, video shows, where they got the attention of security guards. One of the girls called 911, the lead police detective in the case testified at the preliminary hearing, and said their friend had been stabbed. The girls would follow their friend to SickKids Hospital, where he was treated. The boy snapped a picture of his bloodied wrist, appearing stitched up, and sent it to his friends — later seized as evidence from the girls' cellphones. The messages were 'going crazy' in the group chat about how the boy had been injured, one of the girls' friends, who was not involved in the swarming, later testified at trial. The boy agreed, when asked by the girl's defence lawyer during cross-examination at the preliminary hearing, that the girl who stabbed him seemed drunk and was acting out of character that night. He was asked if it was possible he was cut with scissors and not a knife. The girl accused of stabbing Lee's had two pairs of nail scissors on her when she was arrested. None of the girls had a knife. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The boy testified he had also been smoking weed and drinking that night, affecting his memory. 'Maybe,' he answered. The girl accused of fatally stabbing Kenneth Lee was arrested with two small pairs of nail scissors. Court exhibit All eight girls were corralled in the lobby of SickKids Hospital when officers began to arrive through the revolving doors to investigate them. It was almost 3 a.m. and at first the officers didn't tell the girls they were being detained as they watched them from a distance, their body-worn cameras turned on. The girls didn't seem immediately bothered by the cops' presence. They didn't realize yet what was happening as they continued talking to each other and using their phones. The body-worn footage was played as part of a hearing about the admissibility of evidence at trial, but not at the trial itself. It wasn't until one of the girls asked an officer if she could talk to someone in the hospital lobby when the girls began to realize something was wrong. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW 'None of you are going to be leaving anytime soon,' the officer said. 'We can't leave?' one of them asked. There is an ongoing investigation about an incident at York and University, an officer replied. 'Somebody was stabbed and he's dead.' Crime scene photos show where Toronto Police marked blood from Kenneth Lee in the parkette where he was fatally stabbed. Court exhibit 'He's not dead,' one of the girls responded, possibly referring to their injured friend, as several of the girls approached where the officers had gathered. The girls denied being at York University — 'That was not us' — misunderstanding that the cop was referring to the downtown intersection, near Union Station. 'None of you are leaving until we sort things out,' an officer said. Is it a 'boy' or a 'girl' who's dead? one asked. It's a male adult, an officer told them. As they debated the location the officer described, one of the older girls clued in: 'I didn't kill nobody.' 'Yo, it was f—ing this b—h right here,' another said, gesturing to one of the girls seated behind her. The girls were talking over each other. 'Nobody killed nobody are you crazy?' a girl fired back at the girl who levelled the accusation. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW How do you know her? an officer asked. Another girl chimed in to say she heard from another girl that the girl behind them did it. Officers then moved toward that girl. 'You're being arrested for homicide,' one said, as she was handcuffed. The girl the Crown would eventually accuse of stabbing Lee was seated next to her, jacket hood up over her face. She was not speaking. In his decision, the judge found he could not exclude the possibility that the girl being accused in the SickKids lobby was responsible for the fatal stab wound. That girl, he wrote, can be seen on video with 'something that is shiny and shaped like a blade' protruding from her hand as she runs towards Lee during the final wave of the attack. At the same time, he wrote he could not conclude she was holding a knife. 'Is it a Chinese man?' one of the girls asked, still confused about why they were being investigated. 'It's a very serious matter,' one of the officers said. Officers searched the pockets of the girl being arrested, finding them full of candy and gum. 'I'm gonna read you your rights in the car, OK?' She was the first to be arrested. The 14-year-old is brought into a small, windowless interview room wearing an orange police-issued jumpsuit, her pink hoodie visible underneath. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The police detective followed behind her and sat across from her at a small white table that looked bolted to the floor. There's no lawyer, no parent present — the reason why this video footage, also discussed at the hearing about evidence admissibility, is never entered at her trial. 'My job here is to find out exactly what happened,' the officer told the girl, saying some of the other girls were choosing to tell police exactly what they did to Lee. 'Do I have to answer?' the girl asked. He told her she didn't. Gta A secret confession, chartered flights and strip searches: Behind the scenes of the girls-swarming saga after the killing of Kenneth Lee Here are some of the details that can now be reported for the first time. He led her through questions of where she was that night. She complained of losing her voice from talking too much. He asked why she wasn't making eye contact. 'I can't look at people when I talk to them . . . It makes me uncomfortable,' she said. Eventually the detective turned his laptop around to play the surveillance video from the parkette for her. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The girl leaned forward, tucking her chin into her hoodie as she watched. She pointed herself out in the video. 'Do you want to just tell me what happened?' the detective asked. 'I want to see what happened,' she responded. She couldn't remember, she said, telling the officer she hadn't been sober. 'I remember, but just don't remember,' she said. The detective continued playing the video from the parkette. 'He dies after this, from what happened to him,' the detective said. 'He suffered stab wounds . . . Did you stab him?' There is a long silence. She doesn't answer.
Vancouver Sun
20-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Judge notes 'suspicious' timing of handgun theft after police asked for pictures
An Ontario manicurist authorities believe to be a 'straw purchaser' of handguns reported that her safe full of weapons, silver bars and cash was burgled the day after the province's chief firearms officer requested photos of the arsenal. Chi Do was convicted in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice on three counts of transferring a firearm knowing that she was unauthorized to do so, 12 counts of possession of a firearm for the purpose of trafficking, and one count of public mischief, with the intent to mislead, by reporting she'd been robbed by a boyfriend whose last name she couldn't remember. 'I find the timing of the report of theft to be suspicious,' Justice Judy Fowler Byrne wrote in a recent decision. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'The report of a theft came on the very day that she was supposed to provide evidence that she had possession of the fifteen firearms. While viewed alone, it may make sense, but considered with the other evidence, it appears to be the only option open to Ms. Do who needed a reasonable explanation as to why her firearms were missing. Viewing this theft report in light of all the evidence, Ms. Do was motivated to fabricate a story about being robbed.' Do was 'flagged as a high-volume purchaser' by the province's chief firearms office after buying four handguns within four days. When an officer with the outfit started to investigate, 'he learned that Ms. Do had 15 handguns and one long gun registered to her,' the judge wrote in a decision dated May 16. The officer contacted Do on Valentines Day of 2022. 'He wanted assurances that all of the firearms were still in her possession. Ms. Do assured him that all of her firearms were safely stored in her safe at her home.' The officer asked her to take photos of the guns stored at her home. 'Ms. Do said she was rushed and on her way to work, but promised to email him the photos of all 16 firearms later that day. The officer later learned 'that she had reported the theft of the guns (to Peel Regional Police) early in the morning on February 15, 2022,' said the decision. 'She told the police that she had just got home from work and went into her safe to take photos of the firearms for the firearms officer, when she discovered that her firearms, ammunition, ($5,000 in cash she was saving up for her brother's birthday), and silver bars were missing. All of her firearms were missing except for two long guns.' Do told investigators that she'd been in her safe a few weeks earlier and all her guns were there at the time, said the decision. 'The only person she believed could have committed the theft was a man she was having an affair with (for a year and a half) and who she had just broke up with. His name was Alex. He was a Sri Lankan man, who she met in Barrie. His last name was too long for her to remember. She believed Alex knew where she kept the key to her safe. She had deleted any contact information for him after the breakup. She did not have camera surveillance.' Do lived in the basement of her parents' home. Her safe, hidden in the back of her closet, was opened when police arrived, said the decision. 'It showed no visual signs of damage. She still had one shot gun and one long gun, and some empty firearm cases.' Do told investigators 'that she liked to collect guns,' said the decision. 'She explained that she had a lot of the same type of guns because she wanted to gift some to her husband when he got his (possession and acquisition licence).' Police didn't see any 'signs of forced entry' at the home and the only windows in the basement where Do lived were too small for anyone to fit through, said the decision. 'When asked what she liked about the firearms, she said she liked that they 'go pow,' and she liked the loud noise. She stated that she has not shot any of her guns, but she wanted a collection. She planned to eventually go to a range and fire them.' A few weeks later, Peel Regional Police learned that on Nov. 18, 2021, the Hamilton Police Service searched a home in Scarborough and found 11 firearms in a safe. 'This was three months before Ms. Do reported the theft of her firearms,' said the decision. Several of the guns had their serial numbers filed off, but police were able to identify three of them as registered to Do. On May 13, 2022, an officer with the specialized enforcement bureau, which focuses on major drug investigations, gangs and firearms, got involved. 'He was advised of the reported theft from Ms. Do's apartment, the number of guns that she had and how three of them were recovered prior to the reported theft,' said the decision. 'There were suspicions that she was 'straw purchaser' — someone who purchases firearms legally, but then provides them illegally to others.' In an interview with investigators, when asked why she had so many firearms, Do 'said that she likes to practice target shooting. She purchased three Glock 19's because she was going to give one to her husband and the other for her 13-year-old son, when he got older. She wanted to purchase her firearms then in case the government banned them all later.' In 2020 and 2021, Do worked in a nail salon in Barrie and at the Marriot Hotel in Toronto. 'In total, Ms. Do declared gross earnings of $60,742 over 2020 and 2021. During the same period, she spent $12,678.46 on a combination of restricted and unrestricted weapons, and ammunition,' said the judge. 'In January 2022, she paid for an (additional five) firearms, which totalled $3,410.31. From this, I can infer that she spent approximately one-third of her net income from 2020 to early 2022 on firearm purchases.' Do 'testified that she was able to afford the firearms because she didn't have many expenses,' said the decision. She claimed to have a problem with 'impulse purchasing.' Do never made an insurance claim for the missing cash or silver bars she said were stolen with her guns. 'I do not accept Ms. Do's evidence that she was robbed of her firearms,' Fowler Byrne said. 'Nor does her evidence leave me with a reasonable doubt about any of the elements of the offences.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Toronto Star
24-04-2025
- Toronto Star
Toronto boy Dante Andreatta, 12, was killed by gunmen aiming at group of five teens, court hears
Torontonians were shocked five years ago when 12-year-old Dante Andreatta was struck and killed by a stray bullet as he walked with his mother on Jane Street in North York in the middle of the afternoon. On Thursday, a jury trial got underway in the Superior Court of Justice where Rashawn Chambers, Jahwayne Smart and Cjay Hobbs have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder in relation to the five teenagers who were the target of the attack that day.
