Suspect arrested after cops call homeless man's killing on U of T campus a random attack

Article content

A suspect has been arrested in the city’s fifth murder of the year after investigators described the killing of a 60-year-old homeless man as a random attack.

Toronto Police said the victim – identified as Mario Ferreira – has family from Toronto but described him as “very transient.”

He was sleeping on a bench on the University of Toronto’s campus near College St. and Queen’s Park Cr. around 5:20 a.m. on Thursday when a man grabbed some debris and began attacking him before fleeing the area westbound.

The victim was discovered unconscious and not breathing nearby on the ground by campus safety special constables, who were alerted by a member of the public around 8:20 a.m. Emergency personnel performed CPR but Ferreira was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem examination concluded he died from blunt force trauma to his upper body.

On Friday afternoon, police announced the arrest of 31-year-old Adimabua Chukwuka, of Toronto, and charged him with first degree murder.

“Mr. Ferreira was an unhoused individual in the city – he was not associated as a student or an employee of the University of Toronto,” Det.-Sgt. Trevor Grieve said earlier Friday at a press conference.

“Surveillance video shows the suspect walking nearby originally in the area of Queen’s Park circle on the ground, in the park area there,” Grieve explained. “At some point he arms himself with debris, whether or not that comes from a construction site or a dumpster in the area, that’s still to be determined, and leaves that area and continues to walk around the neighbourhood.”

“Without any warning or provocation, the suspect approaches Mr. Ferreira, who is lying on the bench, and he uses that debris to assault him repeatedly and violently,” he said. “He then fled the area still holding onto that debris.

“From what I can see on the surveillance I do not see any sort of altercation that occurs between the victim and the suspect and I am treating this as a completely random incident,” Grieve added. “I think it’s very alarming.”

Police said they are thanking the public for assisting with this investigation.

“We are committed to bringing justice to Mr. Ferreira,” said Grieve. “Not only for him but also his loved ones. We have been able to reach his next-of-kin and we have spoken to them.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).