Man accused of killing 'adventurous' teen in Toronto subway station wanted in Newfoundland

The man who allegedly killed a 16-year-old boy remembered as an avid adventurer has been wanted on an arrest warrant issued in a Newfoundland courtroom for nearly two years.

Court documents obtained by CTV News Toronto show the accused, 22-year-old Jordan O’Brien-Tobin, had an arrest warrant issued under his name in St. John's on April 15, 2021 after breaking a probation order in connection with a number of charges laid against him in 2020.

“He stands accused of [the 2020] offence and the warrant is active,” James Cadigan, Newfoundland police’s media relations and public communications officer, told CTV News Toronto on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the documents, O'Brien-Tobin allegedly pleaded guilty to threatening a group of individuals on Feb 7, 2020, who the court later ordered him to stay away from in Newfoundland.

Newfoundland police said they only became aware of the accused’s whereabouts when reports surfaced of the Toronto stabbing over the weekend. His last known address was in Scarborough, according to his 2021 arrest warrant.

On Saturday, O’Brien-Tobin allegedly killed a 16-year-old in an “unprovoked” stabbing. The victim, Gabriel Magalhaes, was sitting on a bench on the lower level of Keele Station in Toronto just before 9 p.m. when he was attacked.

Hours later, at 3 a.m., the doorbell rang, followed by a forceful knock at the door of the Magalhaes house, Gabriel's mother, Andrea, told CTV News Toronto

Andrea saw two police officers and collapsed onto the floor, she said.

Gabriel Magalhaes, who was fatally stabbed at Keele Station in Toronto, is seen in a photo with his mother. (Suppled by family)Earlier that evening, she said she heard about a stabbing at Keele Station on the news and frantically texted her son who was out with friends at the Eaton Centre and set to travel through the same transit hub on his way home. Her texts went unanswered.

“I never thought it would be Gabriel,” Andrea said. “I always thought you know if something were to happen to him, it would be due to him being wild, enjoying life.”

Gabriel was a double-black-diamond snowboarder who wanted to climb Mount Everest and study astrophysics, his mother said.

Gabriel Magalhaes, who was fatally stabbed at Keele Station in Toronto, is seen in this photo. (Suppled by family)“My Gabriel, I miss him so much. He was a good, good kid,” Andrea said as she fought back tears. “All my light has gone out.”

O’Brien-Tobin, of no fixed address, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Saturday after the recent incident.

The next steps in the case could turn to a collaboration between Newfoundland and Toronto police, if the crown attorney’s office out east pursues further actions, Cadigan explained. 

With files from CTV News Toronto's Mike Walker.