UPDATE:
TORONTO – The man responsible for the deadly minibus attack in Toronto in 2018 has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Alec Minasyan has also been sentenced to 20 years on 15 counts of attempted murder, which will be served simultaneously.
Last year, he was found guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.
Eight women and two men died on April 23, 2018, when Minasyan, overwhelmed with shame, angry with women who do not sleep with him and radicalized in the bowels of the Internet, deliberately drove a rented minibus on a busy sidewalk.
Another woman died more than three years later from injuries sustained that day.
The court today heard dozens of statements about the emotional impact of the victims from those who are deeply affected by the attack.
There is more…
(The earlier story follows below 🙂
A drawing of a boy depicting the sun shining on him and his mother made the Toronto courtroom cry on Monday as victims spoke about the effect of a deadly city van attack on them.
Nine-year-old Dion lost his mother, Renuka Amarasinghe, on April 23, 2018. He did not say anything as part of his statement about the impact on the victim – only the drawing.
“It’s wonderful,” said Judge Ann Moloy, who wiped away several tears in a busy courtroom full of dozens of victims and their families.
Eight women and two men died the day a 25-year-old man, prone to embarrassment, angry with women who refused to sleep with him and radicalized in the bowels of the Internet, deliberately drove a rented minibus on a busy sidewalk.
Another woman died more than three years later from injuries sustained that day.
Moloy pleaded guilty last year to 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. On Monday, he remained silent during the sentencing hearing, sitting in an inappropriate gray suit, balding, staring at the floor most of the time.
The hearing was the first opportunity for victims and families to face the killer in person, after his trial and sentence were carried out during a video conference during the pandemic.
Hanin Najar, whose father died in the attack, said she immigrated to Canada in 2017 with her brother, leaving her parents in Jordan. She was worried that something would happen to them while they were so far away.
“I did not know that this fear would materialize here in Toronto, thousands of miles from home, and in such a horrifying and devastating way,” she said.
Her father, Munir Najar, died that day at the age of 85. He was in town with his wife to visit their children and grandchildren, she said.
She said her 15-year-old son had discovered that his grandfather had died after recognizing a lone shoe on the street near a covered body.
“Can anyone imagine the impact of such a disaster on a child?” She said through tears.
Robert Forsythe told the court about his aunt Betty Forsythe, whom he called a “walking library” with family information.
“Her presence and many untold stories are lost forever,” he said, his voice catching as he stared at Minasian in the prisoner’s box.
Robert Anderson described a number of debilitating injuries in his statement about the blow to the victim, which was read by the crown lawyer. He spent four weeks in the intensive care unit, suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, a torn liver that needed surgery and a cut spleen that needed to be removed.
“I continue with my normal daily activities, but I no longer ride a bike due to dizziness,” he wrote. “My short-term memory continues to suffer from head injuries.”
June Sok Park said her family has since renounced her because the crash cost her and her family all their money.
She said she had been in a coma in hospital for more than a month and was living with permanent brain damage, hearing loss and vision problems.
“I have to worry about having a seizure and a stroke every day until I die from this brain injury from this van attack,” she wrote.
She cannot work due to her injuries and can only get out of bed in the afternoon and evening. Park said her family had to come from Korea to Canada to help her for 19 months.
“Now they’ve finally broken up with me and they’re out of touch with me because they think I’m the one who ruined their lives financially,” Park wrote.
Ra So remembers walking with his friend So He Chung on the corner of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue on the day of the attack. The couple decided to walk to the library instead of transiting due to the unexpectedly warm weather.
Then the attack began. She and her boyfriend were hit. She looked around and saw bodies and blood everywhere. When she looked down, she saw blood covering her own body.
“Basically, all my facial bones were broken to pieces except my forehead,” she wrote. She saw her friend, who was unconscious but not bleeding.
So I thought Chung was fine. When she woke up, no one told her what had happened to her friend. Days later, So was brought to a room with a social worker, her parents and friends to tell her that Chung had died.
“I remember crying and shouting my denial after her death,” she wrote.
Three women who witnessed the attack also spoke about their problems that day.
Janet Jiang cried as she talked about CPR on a woman who was hit and watched her die. Jiang said he has lived with self-doubt ever since.
“I repeat this day thousands of times, wondering if I could have done things differently and if she would still be here today,” she said.
The judge’s voice was interrupted several times as she thanked those who spoke.
“I admire your courage. “I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Moloy told Jiang.
Betty Forsythe, Ji Hong Kim, So He Chung, Geraldine Brady, Chul Min Kang, Anne Marie D’Amico, Munir Najar, Dorothy Sewell, Andrea Braden, Beutis Renuka Amarasingha and Amaresh Tesfamariam were killed in the attack.
The first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence without the possibility of applying for parole for 25 years.
The Crown and the defense issued a joint statement acknowledging Tesfamariam, who died more than three years later from injuries sustained in the attack. They recommended a life sentence for her death, which initially passed as an assassination attempt, as she was still alive at the time of the trial.
They also recommend 20 years for any assassination attempt.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 13, 2022.
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