Teen Pleads Guilty to First-Degree Murder of Scarborough Tow-Truck Driver

A teenager has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of tow-truck driver Sulakshan Selvasingam, 28, outside a Scarborough gas station on July 6, 2024.

The then-16-year-old shooter, now 18, received instructions from "influential adults connected to the tow-truck industry" the day before the murder to shoot Selvasingam in the body, then deliver a fatal shot to the head, according to an agreed statement of facts presented to Ontario court June 17.

The teen and two other youths, aged 15 at the time, were also instructed to record the shootings as proof of completion. On the evening of the planned attack, the three drove to a Shell gas station on Warden Avenue in a stolen vehicle. The then-16-year-old shot Selvasingam nine times, including in the head. The other occupant of Selvasingam's vehicle was unharmed.

Selvasingam had previously been a victim of violence in Toronto's tow-truck industry. His father told the court he had warned his son not to work in the towing business, calling it dangerous.

The teen also pleaded guilty to 13 counts of reckless discharge of a firearm for targeting multiple Toronto-area businesses between May and July 2024, including a jewelry store on Steeles Avenue and cinemas in Richmond Hill and Scarborough. Those shootings also targeted cannabis shops, an elementary school, a restaurant, body shops, and tow-truck lots—none of which resulted in injuries.

He was arrested July 15, 2024, after fleeing provincial police in a stolen car. The firearm used in Selvasingam's murder was found in the vehicle. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the maximum sentence for murder is 10 years, with six years maximum in custody and the remaining four spent under conditional community supervision.