Parents of 16-year-old murdered on TTC are 'shattered,' court hears

At a sentencing hearing on Thursday for their son's killer, statements from the parents of Gabriel Magalhaes painted a brutal picture of their lives in the nearly two years since the 16-year-old was stabbed to death on a TTC subway platform.

Jordan O'Brien-Tobin, 22, pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder after stabbing Magalhaes in the chest while the teenager was waiting for a subway train at Keele Station in March 2023.  

According to an agreed statement of facts, the stabbing was unprovoked. 

"I feel that I failed my life. I failed the single most important job of my existence: to keep my son safe," wrote his mother Andrea Magalhaes in her victim impact statement, which was read aloud by the Crown. 

She wrote that she now struggles to sleep, to get through her days and to take care of her living son since the death of Magalhaes, who she described as "the most loving teenager I have ever met in my life."  

"Every cell in my body hurts. I am more than shattered," she wrote. 

LISTEN | Mother of teen boy fatally stabbed at TTC station speaks to the CBC in 2023: 

As It Happens7:02Mother of Toronto subway stabbing victim speaks following 16-year-old's death

The mother of a 16-year-old boy who is the victim of a random attack on a Toronto subway is speaking out. Gabriel Magalhaes was sitting on a bench in the lower level of Keele Station shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday when a 22-year-old man — a stranger — approached him and fatally stabbed him. Speaking to As It Happens host Nil Köksal, Magalhaes's mother, Andrea, said there are "no words" to express her pain, and says more needs to be done to help people in crisis.

Magalhaes' father, Antonio Fernando De Magalhaes, wrote in his statement that on the day of his son's death, life changed from a "perfect dream to a nightmare." 

"My nightmare will only end the day I am at peace beside my Gabriel," he wrote. 

Automatic life sentence

Other victim impact statements shared on Thursday included Magalhaes' aunt and two TTC workers who were with the teenager after he had been stabbed on the Keele platform. 

"Emotionally, it screwed me up," wrote one of the workers. "Every day, I think of that child." 

The statements were shared as part of a sentencing hearing for O'Brien-Tobin following his guilty plea last year.  

Second-degree murder comes with an automatic life sentence in Canada — but now, it is up to the trial's judge to decide on the timeframe before O'Brien-Tobin is eligible to apply for parole.

The Crown is asking for 16 to 18 years, while the defence is seeking 10 to 14 years.