Judge rules Crown failed to disprove self-defence in 2022 North York killing

A Toronto judge has acquitted a teenager accused of fatally stabbing 18-year-old Auptin (Abtin) Abedini-Senoubari of Richmond Hill, ruling that prosecutors failed to disprove that the youth was acting in self-defence during a violent confrontation in the summer of 2022.

The decision, released last month by Ontario Superior Court Justice András Schreck, ends a three-year legal process stemming from a deadly fight between two groups of young people in a parking lot near Finch Avenue West and Dufferin Street.

According to the court’s ruling, the then-17-year-old accused swung a bottle at Abedini-Senoubari, missed, and as the unarmed victim turned to punch him, the accused extended his left hand and stabbed him once in the chest. Abedini-Senoubari collapsed and later died from his injuries.

A few weeks after the incident, the accused sent social media messages to one of the victim’s friends that appeared to mock his death, including one that read, “Ur homie dropped like a fly that day.” Another message stated, “Don’t slip bc if you do u gon have to say what’s up to Auptin for me.”

Justice Schreck acknowledged the disturbing tone of the messages but concluded they reflected “juvenile bravado” rather than a clear indication of motive or intent.

The court noted that while the accused had been armed with both a knife and a bottle, he was also facing a larger group that had “demonstrated they were not above ganging up on others.” Schreck found that, given the imbalance of numbers, the use of a weapon could be considered reasonable in the circumstances.

“Where the armed individual is facing a threat from a group, he or she is at a disadvantage, and the use of a weapon may be reasonable to counter that disadvantage,” the judge wrote.

The judge called it a “close case,” stressing that the verdict “should not be taken as condoning” the accused’s behaviour.

“This case involved the tragic and senseless loss of the life of a young man who had his whole future ahead of him,” Schreck wrote. “The altercation that led to this involved the escalation of a dispute over nothing of any importance and was fuelled by machismo and immature, unjustified aggression.”

Court documents describe how both the victim and the accused attended an all-ages event at a nearby lounge earlier that night. The accused had been removed from the venue for going onto the stage and later argued with security staff outside. Abedini-Senoubari, who did not know the accused, told him to leave and recorded a short video of him on his phone, which led to an exchange of insults.

As the accused walked away, both groups continued to follow one another through several parking lots, where tensions escalated into a physical fight. Even after being stabbed, Abedini-Senoubari and a friend briefly stomped on the accused before the Richmond Hill teen collapsed.

Prosecutors argued that the stabbing was an act of retaliation rather than self-defence, but the court ruled that the evidence left reasonable doubt as to the accused’s intent and motivation.

Because the accused was 17 at the time, he cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The ruling brings to a close one of Toronto’s most emotionally charged youth-violence cases of recent years. Justice Schreck described the outcome as “tragic on every level,” noting that a confrontation over “nothing of any importance” had led to a young man’s death and another’s lifelong burden.