What’s to blame for the senseless killing of a 16 year old at a subway station?

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Jordan Heath Rawlings It is a story that shocked the country, and it quickly became a symbol of all that was wrong with Toronto and with the justice system in general. A 16 year old boy was killed in what? Police are calling an unprovoked attack. A memorial is growing here at Keels Station. People have been stopping by all day. Emotions are running high as advocates once again call for a safe and reliable transit system. A young man killed, allegedly murdered by a 22 year old man who we quickly learned, had a lengthy criminal history, who had in fact been released from custody. Just a couple of weeks before the alleged attack. It is understandable as Toronto when the country beyond wrestled with anger and fear that the gut reaction was to toughen sentencing, to reform the bail system, to do whatever it took to keep people like the accused killer locked up. And then something remarkable happened. The mother of the victim, clearly full of grief and pain, sat down in front of C B C cameras and said the opposite. We need to start talking about violence, the root causes of violence. I know it comes down to the social determinants of health. It’s not an easy solution. We’re not talking about adding more police force. Mm-hmm. I’m not talking about locking people up. We’re talking about what are the root causes? Why is this happening? Why is a person homeless? So who is the alleged killer, who has become a symbol? Of everything wrong, both with the justice system and the social support or lack of it in our healthcare system. What do we know about this man’s background, his previous crimes, whether or not he tried to get help and what was missed and when is there a world where this didn’t have to happen, and how do we get to that world from here? I am Jordan Heath-Rawlings. This is the big story. Jennifer Pagliaro is a crime reporter with the Toronto Star. Hey Jen.

Jennifer Pagliaro Hey.

Jordan Heath Rawlings I don’t usually do this, but I wanna start. With us talking a little bit of inside journalism baseball, because who was the person who allegedly killed a 16 year old, and you try to retrace those pieces, like what do you do and where do you start to build that picture?

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, so it’s difficult in Canada because there aren’t a lot of publicly available documents that. Exist in some database online, and I think it’s important that people sort of understand where these stories come from. So I can’t just look someone up. Uh, in the States there’s a lot of things you can search online for a stranger. And in Canada we don’t really have that. So the first place I started is I sort of took a guess as to uh, which courthouse I thought he may have previous charges at that was sort of an educated guess, given the very little details we knew about his circumstances, the police press release suggested that he was of no fixed address. That’s usually like a little flag that, that person might be experiencing homelessness.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro And I know that those people often are looking for services that are, uh, more readily available in the downtown, especially downtown east and the courthouse that someone might wind up at, if they’re charged in that general area, is at Old City Hall, uh, right downtown. Right. And it took two reporters driving around to various courthouses to try to actually pull physical records and then try to piece together a timeline of what is a very complex and lengthy criminal history.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro Um, I would say with. Like minimal to almost no help from the ministry that oversees, uh, courts in Ontario. And I think that’s a, I think that’s a problem, and I don’t think it should have required that amount of resources. Um, these are publicly available documents, but they’re not. I would say easily or readily available. Yes. And we’ll get into just how lengthy, uh, the criminal history is and, uh, all the places that you had to go to, to track this down.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings But maybe first just tell us about the last time before, uh, the incident we’re gonna talk about today that the alleged killer, Jordan O’Brien Tobin was in court. Why was he in court and what happened there?

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, so this was a key document that we wanted to unravel. Uh, we ended up getting a transcript for a court appearance that he made, uh, just two weeks before, uh, the alleged murder. And at that time, he was facing sentencing for a historical sexual assault charge that happened in October of 2021. And so he was appearing before a judge. Um, he had pled guilty to that charge, and all that was left to do was to be sentenced by the judge.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro And so we got a transcript of that appearance and it was the only time that I was able to find that. O’Brien Tobin actually spoke to the judge and he talked about wanting to turn his life around. He talked about his many addictions, about being homeless, uh, about needing financial and other supports, including wanting to go to, uh, potentially a rehab treatment program. And he talked about being young. He’s, he’s only 22 years old, uh, that he didn’t wanna spend his life in jail. And, um, he sort of, uh, pleaded for, um, some modicum of mercy from the judge. And again, that was just two weeks, um, before this alleged murder. And so that was really crucial for us to, to see sort of where he was at in the criminal justice system, but also his state of mind at this point.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings And what happened right after that?

Jennifer Pagliaro He was released. So because he had already served some time, In jail and in custody you get, as any adult would in Ontario’s criminal justice system, you get credit for time served ahead of your sentencing. Mm-hmm. That’s time that you are technically presumed innocent until proven guilty and so you actually, there’s like a formula they do, you actually get extra credit for spending that time in custody ahead of a sentencing. So because he had already spent like a significant amount of time he was sentenced, to, uh, just a single day in custody. Uh, additionally, and then he was released on probation.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings We’re gonna talk a lot about O’Brien, Tobin, uh, on this show and, and how he ended up, uh, where he did and, and doing what he allegedly did. Before we do that, people are familiar with this incident, even, uh, people outside of Toronto because it was shocking and it made headlines around the country. Um, 16 year old boy killed, uh, at a TTC station. But just tell us a little bit before we begin about, about Gabriel and, um, who he was and, and what we know about him and his life.

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, so this was, you know, a young man living in Toronto, uh, with a family who. Really loved him. His mother described to my colleague at the Star that, you know, he was adventurous. He loved snowboarding. He would sort of help her on the slopes. Like he was really proficient at it. You know, he, he, he like a, like your average 16 year olds. He had dreams. For his future.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro And I think that’s the part that’s really devastating is that as far as we understand from what has been made publicly available, he was just on his way home with a friend, um, sitting on a bench at a subway station that he was familiar with when he was approached. And in this unprovoked. Uh, attack, allegedly stabbed to death. And it, it’s really hard to wrap your head around. Um, I actually think his parents have, I’m sort of in awe of the way that they have handled this publicly. Um, his mom especially had said some really compassionate things about challenges with the mental health system and

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro It needing to be, Overhauled, um, in the wake of losing her son so violently. Um, I think that really speaks a lot, um, to his family and their character. One of the reasons we wanted to talk to you about this, and I’m sure one of the reasons that you wrote this piece and did this work, is because this case itself has become a kind of political flashpoint, uh, for conversation around the justice system, whether it is more mental health resources, whether it is stricter sentencing and bail reform and all of that stuff. And what you guys did was paint a picture of O’Brien Tobin that. Is really full and, and allows us to kind of have the discussion of where this alleged killing could have been stopped before it happened.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings So maybe, maybe first just start with, uh, what you found out about his background. Where is O’Brien Tobin from? What is his life? Been like, and, and how did he end up with no fixed address, uh, in downtown Toronto?

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah. And, and thank you for saying that. That was really the goal is to try to like shed some light and make sure everyone had all of the facts in front of them. So, uh, what we’ve learned is that Jordan O’Brien, Tobin was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland. And he had what I would describe as a fairly traumatic childhood. We haven’t gotten into too many details just to try to protect the privacy of the people involved.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro We know that he was a victim of abuse and witness to a familial abuse as a young child, and it. Developed, uh, into quite a few challenging, uh, psychiatric diagnosis. Even at a young age, he was being monitored, um, by social workers and psychiatrists at a certain point. Um, he was removed from his home and he spent, um, from the time he was 11, to the time he was 17. In a group home. Hmm. From the time he was an adult at the age of 18, and again, he’s relatively young, he’s only 22. He spent almost every year of his adult life so far involved in the criminal justice system, starting with charges in Newfoundland, which we were able to obtain from the provincial court there. Things like, uh, theft from, you know, grocery stores and pharmacies and restaurants and liquor stores. And at a certain point, in, uh, 2019, 2020, uh, like a lot of young people, I think from, uh, smaller, uh, places, decided he wanted to come to Ontario, uh, to look for work, was hoping to start a new life. And unfortunately, when he arrived, the pandemic hit. And, uh, from the records, it seems as though he had a lot of difficulty finding any, um, stability, uh, either through work or housing, uh, listeners who live here in the gta know that housing can be incredibly difficult, uh, at the best of times. And so what we can see from the addresses that get listed on his criminal charges is that he really bounced from shelter to shelter and at times, uh, police listed him as no fixed address. It seems like he never really found any kind of stable housing. Um, and his list of charges continues, uh, when he gets to Ontario and, uh, some become increasingly violent, uh, mixed with, again, alleged thefts and, um, other, uh, I would say, uh, less violent charges.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings When you spoke to experts on the justice system and how it works and you show them this list of charges, um, and addresses or non-ad addresses, you know, is this story unique? Like what should be happening in these situations that isn’t, or is this just the way it works?

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, so unfortunately his. Backstory and sort of what’s spooled out in terms of his criminal record, uh, these experts say is not unique with the exception that it is thankfully still very rare for someone to be randomly attacked and killed, uh, especially someone so young. Right? But the lead up to that is a really familiar picture to some of the, the legal experts that we spoke to. And these are folks that spend a lot of time in this. Space of the intersection of mental health and criminal justice because unfortunately, you know, it’s important to say that not everyone that’s experiencing mental health challenges commits a violent offense. In fact, very rarely do people with mental health, um, challenges commit violent offenses. But…

Jordan Heath-Rawlings mm-hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro When those two things intersect, it can be incredibly challenging. Um, and there’s a lot of sort of red flags here that the experts say, are incredibly common, but unfortunately the system, uh, it seems in Ontario is not set up to help people like Jordan O’Brien Tobin.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings How could it be set up to do that? Like, and I’m not asking you to, you know, rework the whole system here on the podcast, but like, where was there an opportunity to get off this track that we don’t have and, and I say that in either scenario, uh, in terms of either, you know, figure out how to find support and stability or determine that he was a danger and lock him up.

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, so looking through his history and trying to understand what happened to him, the real gaps are on the mental health supports side, when you look at his criminal history, you have to remember that I have the benefit of information and now we have the benefit of looking at it in its entirety. But if you are a member or like officer of the legal system, you know, a judge, uh, duty counsel, the crown, they have access obviously to his previous charges, but you are sort of looking at it in isolation in the sense that never did the offenses that O’Brien Tobin was alleged to have committed, you know, rose to even the seriousness that they were taken to, for example, Ontario’s Superior Court that deals with these more serious offenses that come with more lengthy sentences, for the most part, you know, the, um, most serious of charges were O’Brien Tobin threatening someone with an edged weapon, um, until, the alleged murder. He had never actually used an edged weapon on anyone from what we could see. And it’s not that, that is not a serious event. Obviously you or I and people, we know this is not how you conduct yourselves, but I have to look at it in the sense of, you know, what is the appropriate sentence for something like that. He was spending a lot of time in custody.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings mm-hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro As a result of, you know, the, the many offenses that he was racking up. But every time he would go into custody, it seems to me, from reading the transcripts that there weren’t exactly supports available in provincial custody, you know, while he was awaiting sentencing. And when he was released, there wasn’t a clear plan for how he was to receive treatment. Often, his probation order would say that he had to seek treatment, but as an adult with a probation officer who has a multitude of cases that they’re responsible for, it’s not like your probation officer shows up at your house to drive you to the hospital or to your program, like as an adult offender. There’s still some expectation that you walk yourself in the front door, right? And for someone who is experiencing homelessness, who has declared, um, themselves a really large range of psychiatric, um, concerns as well as addictions, that’s not as easy as it sounds. And again, I don’t, I don’t have the answer for what a better system looks like, but I, I know that this was someone who clearly needed supports and at times was asking for those supports. And it seems to me like in Toronto those supports should be available, but they often aren’t.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings How has this case become, um, an example for the other side of that equation in terms of, uh, bail reform?

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, so it’s been really interesting. Like you mentioned, this case kind of became a flashpoint. Um, and where there are very public cases like this, um, sometimes politicians latch onto them as an example. Um, they think to prove their point, and something that I really wanted to focus on in writing this story is, you know, whether a case like this does prove their point. I’m not gonna say whether like bail reform was a good or bad idea, but it is interesting to me whether, you know, the example they’re using has anything to do with the argument that they’re making. And what’s interesting is that much of the bail reform that’s being discussed right now, um, amongst politicians and in the public is for people who are charged. For having a loaded firearm.

Jordan Heath Rawlings Hmm.

Jennifer Pagliaro And you know, that never appears in the criminal record for O’Brien Tobin. Like I said, he, um, at times is charged with assaulting different people and threatening them with an edged weapon. But never is he charged for wielding a firearm on anyone. And so the kind of bail reform that’s being discussed right now actually doesn’t apply to this particular criminal history.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Huh? And it’s not to say that the idea of bail reform can’t apply to this case, but the way that we are talking about it doesn’t apply to this case. And I think it’s important to talk about that because I think there’s a lot of rhetoric about, um, making sure that dangerous offenders are locked up. But I’m not sure that anyone in the legal system would’ve necessarily declared someone like Jordan O’Brien Tobin a dangerous offender. You know at the time, right? Obviously, looking back at it in hindsight and the alleged murder, he might make a different opinion, but at the time, obviously, people who make legal decisions don’t have that hindsight, I’m not sure they would’ve classified him that way, and so I think it’s important to say all that because I’m not sure that bail reform would’ve helped here.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Now that you’ve finished this story, and I’m sure there’s, uh, more to come on this as, uh, the criminal case proceeds, but I wanna ask you, you know, what is your takeaway from reporting all of this out?

Jordan Heath-Rawlings I obviously don’t wanna minimize Gabriel’s death in any way because it’s a tragedy, but when I read your whole story, I came away just profoundly sad about everything and everyone involved. And I’m wondering, you know, how you feel when you dig through this.

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah, I felt that way too. You know, in the way that you’ve kind of said, I didn’t wanna lose sight of Gabriel and his family and what they’re going through. But I also sort of use that as motivation to try to understand like, where did we go wrong here and. My colleagues and I are also looking at some of the other attacks that have occurred, and I think we’ll find some common themes there, and my concern is that one of the common denominators is unchecked mental illness and a lack of supports in the community and also in custody. And again, it’s not to say that everyone with mental illness, um, is violent. It’s the opposite. Mostly people with mental illness have violence committed against them, but in these instances where it does happen, it seems to me that there is a clear problem of just not providing mental healthcare in the way that they need. We would hope in a country that we are proud of our healthcare system. However, I still think we are not treating mental illness the way that we treat physical ailments, and I think that, that is having an ongoing and frustrating effect.

Jordan Heath-Rawlings Maybe lastly, because you’ve mentioned it and you touched on it off the top, what has Gabriel’s family said about everything that’s happened, um, what are they calling for and how are they, uh, trying to honour his memory because it, it plays into exactly what you’ve described.

Jennifer Pagliaro Yeah. The thing that really, um, struck me initially about this story before I really became intimately involved is that, uh, Gabriel’s mother who works in the healthcare system had some very poignant things to say about what she saw as a lack of support. In the mental health space, and as someone who works in that field, I’m sure she’s been exposed to the outcome of a system full of gaps. And now, uh, it seems that it has contributed to, uh, you know, allegedly the loss of her son and to be able to speak, I think so eloquently about that. Um, even as she’s grieving, I think that we owe it to her and to Gabriel and to his memory to pay attention. To what she’s saying, I think it holds a lot of weight and. I think that she’s right. Everything that I have seen is that we lack the supports that people so desperately need in this city and the greater region. And if a grieving mother can be so poignant in realizing that and pointing it out, then I think we owe it to her to pay more attention.

Jordan Heath Rawlings Jennifer, thank you for this. Thank you for, uh, all the work that you’re doing. And I guess, uh, we’ll touch base later and see if this case, which has gathered headlines around the country, um, can give us a push in that direction maybe.

Jennifer Pagliaro Thanks so much for having me,

Jordan Heath Rawlings Jennifer Pagliaro reporting for the Toronto Star. That was the big story. You can find more at the big story podcast.ca. You can talk to us anytime at The Big Story Fpn on Twitter or by email. Hello at the Big story podcast.ca. If you’ve got a comment or a question about this episode or any other, we received some great feedback on our Tiny Homes episode from last week. I responded to a bunch of it. It is fantastic when a discussion of an issue like that can bring people together from across the spectrum. You can always reach out to us. We read every single email. We listen to every single voicemail, which you can, by the way, leave by calling 4 1 6 9 3 5 5 9 3 5, and all feedback, good and bad is really appreciated. Thanks for listening. I’m Jordan Heath Rawlings. We’ll talk tomorrow.