Teen who killed grandmother in random attack still relishes violence despite apology, court hears

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Mental health problems and psychosocial deficits of the boy meant that hurdle likely could not be met, although he had suitable written and verbal skills and interactions with teachers and others.

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“This was a completely unprovoked, random, extremely violent attack on an innocent woman cleaning up her yard on a spring day,” D’Eri said at the hearing which was packed by Doney’s family and friends, the boy’s parents and siblings, and journalists.

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“This brutal attack occurred in Ms. Doney’s yard in the middle of the afternoon, a place where she was entitled to feel safe and likely did feel safe.”

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D’Eri said the boy’s sentence must promote a sense of responsibility in him and acknowledge the harm done to the victims and the community.

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She said it was “highly concerning” the boy displayed little insight into his violence and was inconsistent in his explanation for it. She said he continues to show persistent preoccupation with violence and serial killers.

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He has also been the subject of several behavioural incident reports from the facility where he is incarcerated, she said, including an altercation with another resident which staff broke up.

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After the incident, court heard, the boy said he “hasn’t felt this alive” since he murdered Doney.

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This, D’Eri said, supports the Crown’s position that his risk of re-offending continues and that a lengthy sentence is necessary to try to address underlying issues, and that his time already served should not be deducted from his sentence to lengthen this process.

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Eleanor Doney was killed outside her Pickering, Ont., home by a teen attacker on May 29, 2025. Photo by Jack Boland/Toronto Sun/Postmedia/File

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The Crown also asked for a lifetime weapons ban and an order to take his DNA for the government’s DNA bank.

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Erin Dann, the boy’s lawyer, agreed her client committed a horrific, pre-meditated murder causing deep and lasting hurt to many people.

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She asked that the boy be granted a year’s credit from his time already spent in custody. She said it would increase the likelihood he remains in a youth facility until his conditional release, which she said would aid his rehabilitation. Young offenders can typically remain in a youth facility until the age of 20. If he serves the extra year requested by the Crown, he will turn 21 before release and might be transferred to an adult prison.

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By the time his sentence is complete, Dann said, it will be 2035 and his sentence period will account for more than 41 per cent of his life: “This is a considerable sentence for someone so young,” she said.

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Her client has “high needs” for mental health treatment and psychosocial assistance for his rehabilitation and that five years in custody is a long time for someone his age, Dann said.

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She said he has a “good capacity for rehabilitation.” He was assessed at a low to moderate risk to violently reoffend and that dropped to “likely low if his mental health is properly attended to and monitored.”

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Dann said psychological assessments suggested his serial killer obsession and a lack of remorse and empathy likely stemmed from mental health problems and are not fixed attitudes.

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“Because these risk factors relate to mental health concerns, there’s real potential here for rehabilitation and reintegration if properly addressed,” Dann said, and the youth facility, where he is engaged with the treatment programming, is the best place to meet that need.

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Police seized two cell phones and a computer from his home that uncovered his vast online activity and intense interest in murder, serial killers, psychopathy and an obsession with a fictional serial killer from a Japanese comic book called Yoshikage Kira, as well as the real-life serial killer Ted Bundy.