Candlelight walk held in west end to honour 16-year-old killed in TTC stabbing
Five days after her son Gabriel was killed, Andrea Magalhaes walked up to Keele Station on Thursday evening and sat on the same bench where her 16-year-old boy was stabbed last weekend.
After taking a seat, an emotional Magalhaes momentarily bowed her head and closed her eyes. She was surrounded by her son's former classmates and hundreds of others who attended a candlelight vigil in the west end to honour Gabriel.
Andrea Magalhaes sits on the bench inside Keele Station where her son Gabriel was fatally stabbed on March 25, 2023.
Carrying candles and flowers, Magalhaes and her husband Antonio led the walk from High Park Bloor Gates to Keele subway station.
The vigil was organized by Gabriel's former classmates at Keele Street Public School.
"It's kind of shocking. We weren't really expecting that many people to show up. We thought it was just going to be like the community from middle school because those are the people that organized it," Khadra Okmen, a former classmate, told CTV News Toronto.
At the station, the candles and flowers were added to the makeshift memorial outside.
A growing memorial outside Keele Station for 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes.
"It's not supposed to be like this. Like he's a 16-year-old kid," said Melissa Blow, who works with Magalhaes at a Toronto hospital. They are nurses at the neonatal intensive care unit.
"I can't imagine what she's going through, and I don't want to, but we see it at work. In our work, we see parents losing children every day, and she's usually on their other side supporting them. So now she needs all of us to rally around her," Blow said.
In an interview with CTV News earlier this week, Andrea described her son as a "good kid" who she misses so much.
She said her son was a double-black-diamond snowboarder who dreamed of climbing Mount Everest and wanted to study astrophysics.
Police have charged 22-year-old Jordan O'Brien-Tobin with first-degree murder in Gabriel's death.
Court documents obtained by CTV News reveal that O'Brien-Tobin had been charged in Toronto several times over the past two years. He was also wanted in Newfoundland after breaking a probation order in connection with a number of charges laid in 2020.
- with files from CTV Toronto's Sean Leathong and Hannah Alberga
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
As storms moves across Texas, 1 child dies after being swept away in floodwaters
A child in Texas died Sunday after being swept away in floodwaters as storms swept across the state.
Nylander defends Leafs' core after playoff exit, Toronto again picks up the pieces
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.