The man accused in the fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old at a Toronto subway station was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Newfoundland and had several criminal convictions in that province as well as Ontario, court documents indicate.
Toronto police have said they arrested Jordan O’Brien-Tobin, 22, on Saturday and charged him with first-degree murder in the subway stabbing. Police said O’Brien-Tobin had no fixed address.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, provincial court documents show a man with the same name and date of birth is wanted on an outstanding warrant for breaching probation conditions.
The warrant was issued April 15, 2021, in St. John’s, and it remains active, court officials said Tuesday. The document said O’Brien-Tobin’s last known address was in east Toronto.
Court documents indicate O’Brien-Tobin has a lengthy file in Newfoundland and Labrador, largely for non-violent offences and breaching conditions.
Beginning in 2018, he was convicted about a dozen times for stealing, mostly from local stores and restaurants. He was also convicted for property damage, threats and setting fire to a trash can in downtown St. John’s.
He was last charged in Newfoundland and Labrador in February 2020, for breach of conditions and theft from a tapas bar.
The court filings also include a Ontario Court of Justice probation order issued as part of a sentencing for a series of offences including assault, assault with a weapon and uttering death threats. The offences mostly took place in early 2021.
Toronto police allege O’Brien-Tobin attacked Gabriel Magalhaes while the teen was sitting on a bench Saturday night at the Keele Street subway station. The attack was “unprovoked,” police alleged, and the teen died in hospital.
The teen’s death came as the Toronto Transit Commission has been dealing with a series of high-profile cases of violence. On Sunday night, a man was stabbed on a TTC bus about four kilometres north of Keele station.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday that the issue of increasing violence on public transit in the city needs to be addressed with mental health supports, more police and federal bail reform.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2023.
