Ken Lee Obituary, Death – Authorities identified a homeless man as the victim of a fatal “swarming” attack last month in downtown Toronto by eight adolescent girls. Ken Lee, 59, was assaulted and stabbed by the group of girls, three of whom were only 13 years old, according to Toronto police, in the slaying that shook the city of over 3 million people. In addition to the three 13-year-olds, three 14-year-old girls and two 16-year-old suspects were apprehended, according to investigators.
A witness stated that Lee was slain while defending her while the girls allegedly attempted to steal a bottle of alcohol. “He defended me,” said the unidentified witness to the news outlet. When Lee attempted to intervene, the teen girls allegedly turned on him, beating and stabbing him before fleeing. After the incident, Lee was “bleeding, bleeding, gushing,” she said. “I couldn’t determine if they were carrying a knife or not. I was completely afraid. I assume they stabbed him in the stomach.”
The awful attack was preceded by an attempted theft, “possibly of a liquor bottle,” according to Detective Sgt. Terry Browne of the Toronto Police Department. Browne revealed at a news conference last month that the juvenile suspects were caught shortly after the deceased was discovered on the street with numerous stab wounds and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. “I wouldn’t label them a gang right now, but what they’re alleged to have done that evening would be consistent with what we call a swarming, or swarming-type activity,” Browne said. Although the motivation for the crime has not been discovered, Browne believes the youths were involved in another violent confrontation just before the killing.
According to Brown, the incident happened shortly after midnight on December 18, and the suspects were quickly apprehended in the same area. He also stated that the accused had several weapons recovered from him. Due to their youth, the names of the suspects, who are all charged with murder, were not made public. The adolescent suspects, according to Browne, are from diverse regions of Toronto and met on social media. The gang, he alleged, arranged to meet in downtown Toronto. Lee was from Toronto, he added, and had been residing at a downtown homeless shelter due to “some awful luck.”