Boy who killed elderly woman in Pickering, Ont., gets maximum sentence

A memorial for an elderly woman killed in a stabbing attack is seen in Pickering, Ont., on Friday, May 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sharif Hassan

An Ontario Superior Court judge has handed down the maximum youth sentence of 10 years for a 15-year-old boy who pleaded guilty to murdering an elderly woman in Pickering, Ont., last year.

The boy apologized in court on Tuesday for repeatedly stabbing Eleanor Doney, an 83-year-old grandmother and retired kindergarten teacher, in an unprovoked attack as she was cleaning up her yard in May 2025.

His sentence includes six years in custody and four years of conditional supervision, which was agreed upon by the Crown and defence.

The boy will receive a year of credit for the time he has spent in pre-sentencing custody.

The Crown had argued against that credit but the boy’s lawyer said it would help his rehabilitation.

The boy, who was 14 at the time of the murder, cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2026.

The Canadian Press