Pickering boy, 14, charged with murder after 'sadistic' slaying of elderly woman

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A 14-year-old boy is charged with first-degree murder after what police believe was a “sadistic and cowardly” random slaying of an elderly woman in north Pickering on Thursday afternoon.

The Durham Regional Police tactical support unit made the arrest Thursday evening “without incident” after an hours-long manhunt in the Fairport Rd.-Lynn Heights Dr. area, north of Finch Ave., where officers had been called at about 3 p.m. to respond to an unknown trouble call.

The second homicide of the year in Durham Region resulted in a shelter-in-place order and alerts to phones.

“I want to thank the members of our community for sheltering in place and doing exactly what we asked them to do,” said Durham Chief Peter Moreira, who credited the OPP, Toronto Police and the City of Pickering for their help.

“At this point here, you can go freely about with your day-to-day lives.”

No motive has announced, but police said the incident followed a “brief interaction” between the victim and an unknown male outside at 2125 Lynn Heights Dr., which was captured on video, Moreira told reporters at West Division station.

Police said the suspect stabbed the victim “multiple times” before leaving the scene on foot in an eastward direction on Lynn Heights.

The victim was found suffering from “traumatic injuries” and was rushed to a local trauma centre, where she was pronounced dead.

Moreira did not say what type of weapon was used in the attack.

Cops have not released the name of the victim, but organizers of a vigil set to take place in the neighbourhood Friday night named her as Elenor in social media posts and said she was a retired teacher.

Brian Fredericks, who lives across the street from the victim, says he was heartbroken when he heard the news and called her a “lovely lady” who took care of her husband with mobility issues.

Neighbours told CP24 the area is “nice,” “quiet” and “high end” and maps show it is surrounded by vast green space.

There was a heavy police presence in the area for several hours as Durham cops used “every resource” available to track down a suspect, including their Air1 helicopter, drones and a “number of specialized units.

“To the family of the victim,” Moreira said earlier in the evening, “our heart goes out to you. This is an unthinkable tragedy that should not have happened.”

Multiple police agencies — including the OPP and Durham police — issued emergency alerts earlier in the evening, urging residents to shelter-in-place. Some websites had categorized the alert as terror related, but Moreira confirmed that was not the case.

“I can assure you … we have no information at this stage that this investigation is related to terrorism,” he said.

In response to the manhunt, the City of Pickering closed all of its public facilities Thursday night, including community centres and library branches, and cancelled city programs and classes.

The city said in an update after the shelter-in-place was lifted that all facilities would reopen Friday and scheduled programs and classes would resume as normal then as well.

Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe told reporters at the scene they made the “difficult decision” to shutter facilities and suspend programs “under an abundance of caution.

“Obviously, this is a shocking day in our city,” said Ashe, who commended police for arresting a suspect.

“Hopefully we can put this tragic day in the rear-view mirror.”

Police initially said the accused boy was 13 but revised his age on Friday to 14.