Teen receives maximum youth sentence in death of Pickering grandmother

An Oshawa judge has given the maximum youth sentence to a 15-year-old who pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of a beloved Pickering grandmother.

During a hearing at an Oshawa courthouse Wednesday morning, Superior Court Justice Lisa Wannamaker said the teen — who can’t be identified due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) — must serve five more years in custody at a facility and then four years in the community as part of a supervised reintegration plan.

Under the YCJA, six years in custody is the maximum allowed as part of a youth sentence. Wannamaker gave a year of credit for pre-sentence custody.

Eleanor Doney, an 83-year-old grandmother and retired Kindergarten teacher, was gardening in front of her Lynn Heights Drive home on May 29, 2025, when the teen stabbed her eight times. She died in a hospital a short time later.

During a hearing in April, the teen pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

As part of the sentence, the teen received a lifetime weapons ban, a submission of DNA to a national registry, a non-communication order, a forfeiture of evidence seized as part of the Durham Regional Police investigation, and a number of other conditions when out as part of the community reintegration plan.

More to come

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