TTC slasher not criminally responsible

Mentally ill woman was hearing voices and off her meds when she stabbed woman on streetcar

- JACQUES GALLANT

Police investigate a stabbing on a Spadina streetcar on Jan. 24, 2023. Leah Valdez was on her way to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health when she lunged at a woman she did not know, without provocation, slashing her in the face then stabbing her repeatedly.

Leah Valdez was in a state of crisis and on her way to the hospital to refill her medication last year when she lunged at a stranger on the Spadina streetcar and repeatedly stabbed her.

Valdez, 45, pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault and was found not criminally responsible this month due to a mental disorder, namely schizophrenia. The January 2023 incident was one in a string of random attacks on public transit at the time, sparking fear among commuters.

“There’s a wealth of evidence here that justifies a finding of not criminally responsible,” Ontario Court Judge Jacqueline Freeman said in court on Aug. 15, after the Crown and defence consented to the NCR finding.

Valdez is at least the third person to be found NCR within the last year for a random attack on the TTC, with her lawyer saying it highlights the need for more mental health and housing resources to prevent these incidents from happening in the future.

Valdez’s psychiatric history stretches back to 1999, and her symptoms were worsening in the months leading up to the attack, according to a psychiatrist’s report that Freeman quoted in her decision.