'DEVASTATED': Brampton dad accused of murdering two boys
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It’s a discovery no parent should have to endure.
But it happened to a Brampton mother late Wednesday night.
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Sylvana Ruggiero found her two sons, Jonathan, 12, and Nicolas, 9, unresponsive and called 911, a source told the Sun.
The boys were dead.
Their father, Edwin Bastidas, 52, was arrested.
“She is devastated,” a police source said of Ruggiero. The grieving mom is also not clear about why this happened. “Nobody is,” said a source.
At the scene outside the home on Hiberton Cres., in the Creditview and Sandalwood area, Peel Regional Police Const. Heather Cannon said that Bastidas was charged with first-degree murder because police believe there was premeditation or intent.
Sources say Bastidas has no criminal record and police had not been called to the home before.
The accused made an appearance in Brampton’s Ontario Court of Justice Thursday afternoon. He was brought into the prisoner’s box in handcuffs and a blue prison jumpsuit.
A very heavy-set man — with thick, curly, greyish brushed-back hair — he showed no emotion. Nor did he pay attention to five family members who appeared in court. A man who claimed to be a lawyer declined to give his name and said the family had no comment.
Sources say it is believed the boys were suffocated, but an autopsy will be conducted to confirm cause of death.
Cannon noted that when police arrived, the boys had no obvious signs of trauma.
Catherine, who lives across the street from the home, said they seemed like happy children.
“They would play basketball and street hockey with the other kids,” she said. “It’s a very quiet neighbourhood and there is never a disturbance. This is so sad and especially because it involves children.”
Ares resident Sudhama Swamy said he was shocked to learn of the murders.
“It’s strange that this could happen here because it’s so family-oriented. There are three schools just blocks from here,” he said.
At lunchtime Thursday, Shannon Iyer was picking up his young sons from St. Bonaventure Catholic Elementary School, which the murdered boys attended.
“I have been thinking about this since this morning and as a father of two … I can’t imagine what those kids went through,” Iyer said. “It’s an atrocity and I’ll be praying for them. I’ve also got sympathy for the first responders who had to answer a call like this with children.”
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown was devastated when he heard the news.
“If this is indeed a case, domestic or familial-related homicides, it is unfathomable,” a shaken Brown said. “As a parent, I just can’t comprehend this. The crisis that led to this is yet unknown. But our whole community is grieving.”
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