The teenager is fighting for her life in an Ottawa hospital.
Her ex-boyfriend is behind bars.
And not a soul can make sense of the horrific attack unleashed in tiny Temiskaming Shores, about 150 kilometres north of North Bay.
But this is Canada in 2024 and there are things we never thought we’d see darkening our streets daily. Big cities, medium cities and hamlets. Nowhere appears safe.
On Sunday around 6 p.m., a 16-year-old girl was getting off the bus in Cobalt after work. Destination: Home.
But there was someone waiting for her at the bus stop.
As she crossed the road, a vehicle slammed the pretty brunette into a pile of rocks, CTV Northern Ontario reported.
According to a GoFundMe campaign for the victim and her family, the driver leapt out of the vehicle and pounced on the girl. Using a machete, the maniac began swinging at the badly injured teen, they say.
In the frenzy of bloodlust, her family says, he severed her left hand, fractured her right arm and left it “hanging on in ribbons.”
“He proceeded to mutilate her, striking her body and head with the machete. He then fled leaving her to die and was turned into police by his mother,” a relative of the girl wrote on the GoFundMe.
A nearby neighbour and his wife told CTV they heard screaming and went out to help as the suspect fled in his vehicle. The couple administered CPR until paramedics arrived.
They later found part of the victim’s severed arm, the news outlet reported.
“Kaylie was airlifted to CHEO in Ottawa, the children’s hospital, for treatment. She made it through her 16-hour brain surgery and only time will tell the story of her journey,” the relative wrote on the GoFundMe, which had surpassed $53,000 by Wednesday morning. “Kaylie is stable for now and her family is in Ottawa. Kaylie is strong and resilient and so, so loved, we are praying and hoping for her recovery.”
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OPP did not release the name of the 18-year-old accused, who was later arrested in nearby Haileybury. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and … ahem… breach of conditional sentence order.
The GoFundMe, which names the victim and includes photos of her and her family, identifies him as Phillip Rivard-Gagnon, the girl’s ex-boyfriend.
According to CTV, the accused only turned 18 a week before the horrific attack. Of course, thanks to our vaunted Youth Criminal Justice Act in Canada, monsters under 18 can skate on all manner of heinous crimes. Kill a dozen? See you in three years — max. And there are eggheads in academia who believe the age should be raised to 20 years for wayward youths.
But if he is guilty as charged, then the accused in the Cobalt attack seems to have dawdled. Too bad for him.
The young man remains in custody and will appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Haileybury on Nov. 12. The charges against him have not been tested in court.
In the GoFundMe message, the family is begging for some modicum of common sense to prevail in handling the alleged attacker.
“Lastly, we ask that the community email or call the Haileybury Crown attorney’s office to plead that this isn’t another catch and release,” the family said.
“Phillip needs to stay behind bars to protect our other innocent youth!”
Will that happen? Doubtful.
Horrors like this were once an anomaly in this country. They are now woven into our fabric and the people in high places are oblivious or simply just don’t care.
@HunterTOSun