Warning: This story contains graphic details. 

A 14-year-old boy who repeatedly stabbed an 83-year-old great-grandmother to death outside her Pickering, Ont., home last May told a psychologist who met with him after his arrest that he had an “urge to kill in the weeks before the murder.”

Inside an Oshawa courtroom Thursday, friends and family of 83-year-old Eleanor Doney learned that the teen, whose identity is covered by a publication ban under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, showed an intense interest in sociopathy, psychopath, serial killers, stabbing, stalking and avoiding detection in the weeks leading up to the unprovoked attack.

The teenager, wearing a blue suit and glasses, stood in the prisoner’s box and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as his parents, who were sitting in the second row of the courtroom, looked on.

On May 29, 2025 around 3:05 p.m., the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) were dispatched to a home on Lynn Heights Drive in Pickering for unknown trouble. When they arrived, they found an elderly woman lying in front of her residence who appeared to be suffering from significant trauma to her neck and face. She was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.

According to an agreed statement of facts read in court, the woman, identified as Eleanor Doney, had eight stab wounds to her lower back, hands, arm, face and neck. The fatal injury was a stab wound through her neck which cut a spinal artery and severed her carotid artery.

Investigators obtained CCTV video from a house across the street from where the homicide happened. Doney was raking leaves in front of her house at 2:55 p.m. when an individual, later identified as the 14-year-old boy, walked down Lynn Heights Drive from the east. His face was covered with a mask, he was wearing gloves and carrying a briefcase.

He stopped just west of Doney’s home, set down the briefcase and engaged her in conversation for about two minutes.  At 2:58 p.m. he returned to his briefcase, retrieved a knife, walked up to Doney holding the knife in his right hand and stabbed her on the left side of her neck.

Doney staggered backward, turned and fled towards her house, but the teen chased her and caught up to her in a couple of steps. He then stabbed her in the back and stabbed her in the neck from behind.

Doney fell on her back on the sidewalk and the teenager repeatedly stabbed her in the face. He then grabbed his briefcase and ran eastward down Lynn Heights Drive. She remained lying on the sidewalk until a passerby noticed her and called police at 3:02 p.m.

She had stopped breathing and never regained consciousness. Paramedics rushed her to hospital where she was pronounced dead.

The teen was later identified, thanks to school officials who recognized the boy from the video. He had been suspended from school one day earlier for five days for bringing a knife to school. Police attended his residence and arrested him at 8:22 p.m. The walk between the murder scene and his home was approximately 53 minutes.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

Police were able to retrieve the knife used in the violent attack after noticing in one of the surveillance videos they obtained showing the suspect that as he crossed Finch Avenue and Guild Road, he entered a wooded area and briefly bent down. Investigators attended that location and found a knife believed to be used in the stabbing.

After executing a search warrant at the teen’s home, they located clothing believed to be worn at the time of the homicide and a Cuisinart knife set, which had one knife missing and the teen’s fingerprints on the packaging.

Cellphones and computers were also seized from the teen’s bedroom. Investigators spoke with a youth who was an online gaming friend. According to the facts, the parties would exchange messages on Discord, a chat application in the gaming comunity.

“The Discord chats provided to police are all from May 2025,” Crown attorney Tammi D’Eri told court. “They reveal (the teen) had an interest in psychopathy, killing and serial killers.

Reading from the facts, D’Eri said the teen would discuss in chats on Discord “planning killings, getting away with the crime and that he will not get caught unlike other serial killers. He also discussed contemplating killing his grandmother and harming animals.”

On one phone seized from the teen’s bedroom, investigators found photos of an intersection taken roughly two weeks before the murder, just 200 metres from where Doney lived. They also found video of a steak knife similar to the one used in the homicide and seized by the school on May 28th.

On another phone, extractions from the phone revealed that on the day of the deadly attack, leading up to 2:52 p.m., the user continued to access YouTube after the murder. Videos, including clips from TV shows Breaking Bad, Family Guy and the movie Iron Man were accessed. He continued to use YouTube until 7 p.m. that night.

In some of the searches related to the homicide, including on April 17 and May 19, 2025, the teen accessed a video titled “Is reverse grip good for stabbing down?” which demonstrated how to apply maximum pressure when stabbing someone.

On May 20 and 21, 2025, the teen accessed 15 videos about “how to tell if you’re a psychopath or a sociopath?”

On May 22, 2025, he searched “How serial killers got away” on YouTube twice and accessed a four-hour video called “The most sadistic serial killers of all time.”

On May 24, 2025, he accessed six videos about serial killer Ted Bundy. On May 26, 2025, he accessed a two-hour lecture by a psychologist titled “Pscyhopath or sociopath? What you need to know” and on May 29, 2025, he accessed 18 YouTube videos about serial killer Ted Bundy and six videos about stalking.

DRPS were also provided with chats with classmates from his school on May 28, 2025, the day he was suspended.  The teen posted in a group chat he won’t be in school for a month or five months, saying during that time he might kill something.

Further investigation also revealed that on May 29th at approximately 3 a.m., the teen was observed on CCTV walking in the area of Major Oaks in Pickering. He approached two residences and retrieved a knife from a black satchel, then left the area.

The teen also told the psychologist he met with in preparation for his guilty plea that not only did he have an “urge to kill in the weeks before the murder,” but also, “When he saw Ms. Doney in front of her home on May 29, 2025, he knew he had a knife in his briefcase and carried out his plan to kill someone by engaging her in conversation and stabbing her to death.”

Bruce Doney, the victim’s husband of 63 years, said in a victim impact statement, that was written by his daughter because he is partially blind, that he has been living a constant nightmare and missing his wife dearly.

“I am disabled and my wife was my supporter, my main caregiver,” he said, saying he had to move to a long-term care home just weeks after his wife’s murder and sell their home.

“I used to enjoy working in the garden with my wife. Now it’s like a little bird has flown into a closed window and was killed. I will never forget that little bird I spent 63 years with,” he wrote.

“Although I have forgiven him, I wish the best for him and for him to receive the proper treatment to prevent him from committing further crimes.”

Judy Kirwin, Doney’s daughter, called her mother her mentor and her closest friend.

“The loving relationship I enjoyed with my mom was violently taken from me. I was robbed,” Kirwin said. “I am crushed and recoil in horror that mom was left to die and found in front of her home by a neighbour.”

Other relatives and friends spoke about Doney being a leader, mentor and teacher who led Sunday school at church. Her grandson, Kevin Price, said Doney’s life was randomly cut short by a random and senseless act of violence.

“Such a terrible end for someone who was so full of joy, light and life,” said Price.

Crown and defence told Superior Court Justice Lisa Wannamaker they are jointly submitting that the maximum youth sentence for first-degree murder of 10 years is appropriate.

Defence lawyer Erin Dann told Superior Justice Lisa Wannamaker that they’re asking for an assessment so that he can be considered for an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) Program. The program delivers services for youth with mental health needs who are convicted of a serious violent offence.

Dann told court that the 14-year-old had a psychological assessment in which the author opined that the teen was suffering from a significant depressive disorder at the time of the offence and has autism spectrum disorder.

“That would provide the basis for a suitability assessment,” said Dann.

Crown and defence are proposing a six-year ERCS order for the custodial portion followed by four years served in the community.

The only contested issue is that defence says the teen should be given one-to-one credit for time spent in pre-sentence custody, whereas the Crown does not.

The Crown also indicated it is no longer seeking an adult sentence in this case.

Sentencing submissions will be heard in July.