Kenneth Lee’s face was ‘covered in blood,’ shelter worker tells teens’ murder trial

A structure idiosyncratic who stepped successful to halt an alleged radical onslaught connected a stateless antheral successful a downtown Toronto parkette 2 years agone testified Thursday the antheral had humor pouring down his look but didn’t look to beryllium successful a life-or-death situation.

Melissa Alexander took the basal astatine the proceedings of 2 teen girls charged successful the decease of Kenneth Lee, a 59-year-old antheral who was surviving successful the city’s structure system.

The girls, who were 14 and 16 astatine the time, person pleaded not blameworthy to second-degree murder.

Alexander told the tribunal she was wrapping up her evening displacement astatine a then-temporary structure adjacent the parkette connected Dec. 17, 2022 erstwhile she heard a commotion.

When she looked over, she saw a radical of girls descending connected thing similar a battalion of animals attacking their prey, she told the court. Only aft she had pushed them disconnected did she recognize determination was a idiosyncratic connected the ground, Alexander said.

“They were kicking connected him, stomping connected him and spitting connected him,” she said. “He was conscionable connected the crushed … determination was humor moving from his face.”

Some different structure residents identified him arsenic Lee, and Alexander was capable to admit him, she said.

Alexander was “exchanging words” with the girls arsenic they headed toward stairs that would instrumentality them to Union Station and asking them to explicate their actions, she said. The speech was heated, with some sides cursing astatine each other, she said.

The structure idiosyncratic walked backmost toward Lee and flagged down a adjacent ambulance soon afterward, she said. She told paramedics what she knew astir Lee and pointed astatine the girls successful the region erstwhile asked who had near him successful that state, she added. Paramedics loaded Lee onto a stretcher and Alexander went location soon after, she said.

When her manager called the adjacent time to pass her that Lee had died, Alexander was shocked, she said.

“No, that’s impossible,” she remembered responding. “When I near him with the paramedics, helium was alive.”

Under cross-examination, Alexander said determination was nary denotation Lee was critically injured, nor had she seen immoderate weapons. Had that been the case, she would person acted differently, she added.

At slightest 1 teen successful the radical captured parts of the incidental connected video, tribunal heard. In 1 abbreviated clip, Lee is lasting with humor moving from his chemoreceptor down his face.

Court has heard Lee died successful the aboriginal hours of Dec. 18, 2022 aft undergoing exigency country astatine St. Michael’s Hospital.

Eight girls betwixt the ages of 13 and 16 were arrested soon afterward.

Prosecutors allege the youngest of the 2 girls connected proceedings is the 1 who fatally wounded Lee, but person not yet specified erstwhile they judge it happened oregon with what. Court has heard that miss was recovered with 2 tiny scissors and a brace of tweezers erstwhile she was arrested.

Another subordinate of the radical was recovered with a stun gun, vise grips and a tiny capsicum spray, tribunal heard earlier this week.

Last year, 3 of the different girls accused successful the lawsuit pleaded blameworthy to manslaughter and 1 to battle causing bodily harm and battle with a weapon.

Two different girls are acceptable to look a assemblage proceedings this May connected charges of second-degree execution and manslaughter, respectively.

None of the teens tin beryllium identified due to the fact that they were minors astatine the clip of the incident.