3-year-old boy killed in Toronto, murder charge laid: police

A three-year-old boy died after being assaulted in Toronto last weekend and a murder charge has been laid against a 22-year-old woman, police say.

Toronto police said Friday that officers responded to a home in the Dawes Road and Chapman Avenue area in the city’s east end at 12:38 p.m. on Sunday.

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said that on Saturday, the victim was in the care of the accused, who isn’t related to the child.

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They were in the Yonge Street and Bloor Avenue area when they entered an organization and went into the washroom, police said.

While inside the washroom, the child was allegedly assaulted.

The suspect and the child then left the area and went to her home near Dawes Road and Chapman Avenue, police said.

The accused then contacted officers on Sunday, police said.

Toronto resident Shardanae Cousins-Emily, 22, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Further information about the case wasn’t immediately released.

The boy’s death marks Toronto’s 62nd homicide of 2023.

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