Toronto cops seek family of man killed in ‘unprovoked’ attacks

Contents of the article

Investigators have revealed the identity of a murder victim who was among five “vulnerable” or “imprisoned” men attacked in unprovoked attacks allegedly carried out by a 20-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy in August.

Contents of the article

But they have yet to find the 62-year-old's next of kin.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Toronto police say the victim was sleeping on a bench in the area of ​​Queen and Bay streets. when he was was brutally attacked by two men – one of whom was armed with a hammer – shortly after 6 a.m.

The man was one of five victims allegedly attacked for no reason by two assailants that day between 5:45 a.m. and 8:07 a.m., police said at the time.

The victim died four days later

He was taken to hospital, treated and released, but four days later, on September 4, he was found dead in the street.

Police said they believe the man died from injuries sustained during the attack.

Joseph Eric Aubin became the city's 29th homicide victim of the year.

“After exhaustive efforts, police are still unable to locate Mr. Aubin's next of kin to notify them of his passing,” police said in a statement Wednesday.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Investigators are hoping members of the public can help find the man's family.

According to police, Aubin went by the name “Eric” and is believed to be from Quebec.

Two suspects were subsequently identified and arrested on the day of the violent crime.

Isaiah Byers, 20, of Toronto, and a 12-year-old boy, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, are charged with second-degree murder.

The defendants also face charges of robbery, assault with a weapon and assault.

Contents of the article

All of the attacks were unprovoked, “extremely violent” and the victims did not know their attackers, police said at a Sept. 15 news conference.

“What is very concerning is the age of one of the defendants,” Deputy Chief Rob Johnson said at the time, adding that it was “simply incredible” that one of the defendants was only 12 years old.

“This is really a call to action for all of our community partners that we have to find a way to intervene when young people are involved in these types of horrific crimes,” he said.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play video

“We're working not only with our community partners, but at all levels of all governments to make sure that we have some reforms in place on bail reform, even the Youth Criminal Justice Act,” Johnson added.

Anyone with information about Aubin's immediate family or this string of unprovoked attacks is asked to contact Homicide at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

[email protected]

@sundoucette

Contents of the article