Apprentice gets jail in cemetery beating death
Dispute sparked over stolen Metropass
A Toronto apprentice who fatally beat a 70-year-old homeless man over an allegedly stolen Metropass has been sentenced to 32 months in prison. Merhawi Tekle was 26 when he entered Pine Hills Cemetery on Sept. 18, 2009, to retrieve a TTC Metropass reported stolen by his distraught, teenaged sister.
She told him two men had taken her pass and entered the cemetery, in the Kennedy Rd. and St Clair Ave. E. area of Scarborough.
He and his sister entered the cemetery and came across Donald Jackson, 70, and his friend, Sabbir Shaikh, sitting on a bench.
Jackson, who went by various names, was popular at Scarborough Hope Centre homeless shelter.
Tekle approached the men and asked for the pass, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell said Friday.
Jackson rose from the bench, while Shaikh began to get up, making Tekle feel threatened, the judge found.
“Mr. Tekle acted impulsively and punched Mr. Jackson two to three times,” the judge said. He struck his eye and abdomen.
“Mr. Tekle did not realize that Jackson was seriously injured,” she added.
Shaikh grabbed Tekle’s hands, pushed him away and fled, later calling 911 from a subway station.
He returned an hour later but saw no ambulance. He and another man tried to help Jackson walk from the cemetery, but their friend collapsed. They called 911 again. An ambulance arrived, taking Jackson to hospital, where he died six days later. The cause of death was blunt impact chest and abdominal injuries. A significant contributing factor in his death was his chronic alcoholism and hypertension.
After an eight-day trial in December, a jury found Tekle not guilty of second-degree murder but guilty of manslaughter.
The Eritrean-born apprentice auto technician, now 29, has lived in Canada since age 7. He is the eldest of five children. Letters of support attest to his generous help to family, friends, neighbours, co-workers and members of the Eritrean community. He has a criminal record, for such convictions as theft and failing to appear in court. He was also convicted of assaulting his brother when Tekle tried to force him to get up and go to school. He has expressed remorse for killing Jackson, saying he “felt terrible.”
The judge gave Tekle 32 months, leaving him with two years less a day to serve after credit for pre-trial custody. He will be on probation for a further two.