Police did not say how the suspect, 21-year-old Sinbad King Simba Marshall, came to their attention in the death of Stella Tetsos. They were called to an address on Elfreda Boulevard in Scarborough by a relative of the victim on Wednesday, November 11 at 4:30 p.m.
They found the victim “suffering from obvious signs of injury” and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The following day police said “a post-mortem examination concluded the cause of death was the result of blunt-force injury.”
Police identified Marshall as a suspect and arrested him the day after finding the body. He was charged with second-degree murder and break and enter and made his first court appearance Friday; his next court appearance is on the 25th.
Prior conviction
He has a prior conviction from 2013 for a violent assault in the same area of the city — his victim that time survived — and spent time in jail but was released back into the community nine months ago. He was on probation at the time of Tetsos’ death.
The sister-in-law of the victim was at the court appearance, telling media she came to see what the man who is alleged to have taken her loved ones’ life looked like.
“I can’t really accept it,” a tearful Anna Kutsopoulos told media. “I don’t even think she was 80 pounds, to see that guy there so strong. It’s devastating.”
Her husband, the brother of the victim, suffered a heart attack upon hearing of the murder of his sister and is in hospital.
Another relative of the deceased, nephew Peter Tsirlis, said the system failed his aunt and that Marshall should have still been in jail from his previous violent assault.
The dead woman was described by neighbours as a vibrant and kind widow who loved gardening and was a treasured member of their community. There were items stolen from the home, police said.
