Manslaughter charge laid in unprovoked attack outside Toronto warming centre

More than three months after an unprovoked attack on a sidewalk outside of a warming centre left a man dead, Toronto police have charged the suspected assailant with manslaughter.

Police say officers responded to an assault call at 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 27 in the area of Elizabeth Street and Dundas Street West.

Investigators believe that a man approached a group of people on the sidewalk and got into an altercation with them.

Police say the man then, “unprovoked, struck the victim in the head, causing him to fall to the ground.”

The victim, a 50-year-old man, was taken to hospital where he later died. The suspect was arrested nearby.

The 25-year-old suspect initially faced assault-related charges but the results of the autopsy have prompted the charges to be upgraded to manslaughter, police said Saturday.