Friends and neighbours worry about the plight of a 7-year-old boy suffering from cerebral palsy now that his mother and principal caregiver has been murdered.
Lucita Charles, a single mother, was found dead in her first floor apartment on Harding Ave., near Jane St. and Trethewey Dr., around 4 p.m. Monday.
Police identified her boyfriend as a suspect in connection with the slaying on Tuesday, Toronto’s 18th murder of the year.
Patrick Kirk Barrett, 39, has been named on a warrant of arrest for second-degree murder.
The day of her death, next door neighbour Jack Jardine said he and his wife, Helen, woke up to the sound of a violent argument coming from the adjacent apartment.
“Pictures on the wall were shaking. She was saying something I couldn’t make out. There was a lot of banging and throwing things around. And then it stopped,” said the retired apartment superintendent.
He and his wife didn’t think much more about it. He did recall though seeing Charles the day before on a neighbouring patio with a man. They appeared to be having a heated exchange.
“She did not look very happy. She was angry and it was the first time I’d seen her that way,” Jardine added.
Later Monday afternoon, at around 4 p.m., his worst fears came true when he heard a woman in the hallway screaming, “My sister! My sister!”
The mother had been found dead in her apartment.
“I’m feeling sorry for her whole family. I’ve mentioned them in my prayers,” the neighbour added.
Friends dropped by the apartment throughout the day Tuesday trying to grasp the enormity of what happened.
“She lived for her son. All she did, she did for him to have a better life. She’s a very good mother,” said one friend who would only give her name as Avis.
Avis said Charles came to Canada several years ago after her son was born in order to get better care for her son.
A resident said Charles, who had just received her landed immigrant status a week ago, had moved from a seventh floor apartment to a ground floor unit last Easter weekend so the boy would be closer to the building’s entrance, where he was picked up by Wheel Trans and taken to special needs classes.
The mother did not work as most of her energy and time revolved around her son’s care.
“She was the prime caregiver, and for someone who had a child with such a mental and physical disability, she always had a big smile,” said a neighbour, Malvia, who marvelled at the mother’s courage and strength.
“When she would smile and wave at you, it would brighten up your day. Tears come to my eyes when I realize she’s gone and I wonder who’s going to take care of the little boy now,” Malvia added.
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