A teen has pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of a tow truck operator two years ago, admitting he was recruited and paid to commit the crime.

Sitting in the prisoner’s box in a downtown courtroom, the teen, who was just 16 years old at the time and whose identity is covered by the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), also pleaded guilty to 13 counts of reckless discharge of a firearm in relation to shootings. The shootings occurred at cinemas, a cannabis dispensary, an elementary school, a Sri Lankan restaurant, body shops and tow truck lots over a six-week period, starting in May 2024.

According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court by assistant Crown attorney Sharna Reid, the murder victim, 28-year-old Sulakshan Selvasingam, was a tow truck operator who had previously been the victim of tow truck-related violence.

“His murder was connected to the well-known violence in the tow truck industry,” said Reid.

Reid told the court that “influential adults connected to the tow truck industry recruited the teen to commit the offence.” Court heard those adults had access to firearms and were prepared to engage in retaliatory violence within the towing industry.

The 16-year-old “believed that they would not hesitate to harm those perceived enemies, including those who had previously aligned with them. These adults used young persons, including (the teen), by offering him a sum of money to carry out the murder of Mr. Selvasingam,” Reid added.

Court heard that on July 5, 2024, the 16-year-old and two 15-year-olds spent several hours driving throughout the area of Kennedy Commons Plaza in a stolen black Acura bearing stolen licence plates looking for Selvasingam.

The facts state that while in the presence of the two 15-year-olds, the 16-year-old “received instructions from an adult on how to go about killing Mr. Selvasingam” and was “further directed to record the murder.”

The following day, on July 6, 2024, the three young people drove through the same area in two stolen vehicles. The 16-year-old and one of the 15-year-olds drove in a white Honda Civic to a Shell gas station on Warden Avenue near Ellesmere Avenue, arriving at approximately 9:55 p.m.

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“They reverse into a parking space and waited for Mr. Selvasingam,” Reid said.

According to the facts, Mr. Selvasingam attended a car meet at Kennedy Commons that evening with a friend. The two left the car to get food.

Shortly after Selvasingam entered the westbound lanes of Highway 401, he told his friend he needed to make a stop and exited at Warden Avenue. He told his friend he needed to meet someone.

At approximately 10:16 p.m., Selvasingam pulled into a parking spot at the Shell gas station on Warden Avenue, the driver’s side of his Mercedes directly beside the driver’s side of the Honda Civic.

“As he parked beside the white Honda Civic, the 16-year-old shot Mr. Selvasingam nine times, including in the head,” Reid explained, saying he was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A passenger in Selvasingam’s Mercedes crouched down in the front passenger footwell and was not physically injured.

Immediately after the shooting, the 16-year-old drove to Anderson Boulevard in Uxbridge, Ont. The 15-year-old, who was in the stolen Honda Civic with him, called the other 15-year-old and confirmed the shooting had taken place. The three men then met in Uxbridge, where they removed the licence plates from the Honda Civic and discarded them in a sewer drain and, using an accelerant, lit the car on fire.

All three then fled in the old stolen vehicle, a black Honda.

Reid told the court that on July 15, 2024, the OPP were travelling on Highway 401 and were alerted by an auto licence plate reader that there was a stolen black Dodge Charger in front of them. Other units were notified.

The 16-year-old was driving the Dodge with one of the 15-year-olds in the passenger seat. The Dodge exited at Keele Street and tried to make a U-turn. When police tried to box in the Dodge, which was sitting at a red light at Wilson Avenue, the 16-year-old tried to flee. The stolen vehicle, still in motion, rolled and hit a bus shelter.

A Glock 23 handgun fell to the ground from a satchel being carried by the 16-year-old. Police found that the firearm contained two rounds and neither was chambered. Eight more rounds were found in the glove box. The handgun was the firearm used to kill Mr. Selvasingam nine days earlier.

The two 15-year-olds appeared in court last Wednesday and pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to the reckless discharge of a firearm in relation to helping the 16-year-old conceal his identity from police and assisting him in escaping prosecution.

One 15-year-old also pleaded guilty to eight counts of reckless discharge of a firearm. The other 15-year-old pleaded guilty to 10 counts of reckless discharge of a firearm in relation to the other shootings that the 16-year-old admits he was involved in.

According to the facts at the 16-year-old’s guilty plea Tuesday, “the same adults who recruited him to commit murder also recruited him to commit other shootings.”

Those shootings, court heard, were all tied to the tow truck industry.

The 16-year-old’s lawyers, Sharif Foda and Rick Frank, told Justice Maureen Forestell they are asking for his sentence to be under the IRCS program.

The Federal Intensive Rehabilitative Custody (IRCS) program is a therapeutic sentencing option for those convicted of the most serious crimes under the YCJA for youth suffering from mental illness or disorder, psychological disorder or an emotional disturbance.

The maximum sentence for first-degree murder under the YCJA is 10 years, with a maximum of six years in custody.

Outside court, Selvasingam’s father fought back tears speaking about the murder of his son, who lived in Pickering.

“Somebody paid the money for them to kill my son,” he said, unwilling to give his first name for fear of retribution.

Selvasingam’s father said his son worked as a tow truck driver for about two years and that about three months before he was killed, he had begged his son to stop.

“I told him, don’t do that. This is a dangerous job,” said the father.

Selvasingam said his son was planning to get a licence so he could work in the real estate industry.

The Selvasingam family is concerned that the 16-year-old boy will get a lenient sentence for the murder of their son and says the YCJA should be scrapped.