A confession for the people of Richmond Hill: for two years, I thought your city was the kind of place where terrible things couldn’t happen.
Yes, the murders of Rommelia Asuncion and her little daughter Morgyn Rose Asuncion-Massicotte last February shook me up, but the shock faded.
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The provincial government, urged to declare domestic violence an epidemic, didn’t and won another majority anyway.
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People made mortgage payments, drove their children to school, clamoured for more pickleball. Another summer in Richmond Hill seemed dull.
Then three terrible things over the span of five weeks broke that image I had, as a reporter, of Richmond Hill being a safe suburban city.
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Three local families — along with everyone who knew them — were made to feel almost unimaginable pain. Doubtless, they feel it still.
A beautiful little boy. A girl of 11. A young woman devoted to medicine. A loving husband.
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It was as if everyone’s darkest fears took shape, and it started in the dead of night on Sept. 1 as a house on Skywood Drive caught fire.
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Police later said the fire was an act of arson meant to kill five people, one man, the 11-year-old girl and three women.
The girl died first, and then her aunt, Helya Bahari-Kashani, 24, a gifted student who radiated warmth and had the makings of great physician.
More than a month later, a Toronto man and woman were charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and arson.
Police said their investigation wasn’t over, and it still isn’t. It simply can’t be true two people would travel from Toronto to commit, at random, this premeditated crime.
The man and woman have started their first court appearances — the man on Dec. 9, the woman on Dec. 17.
But someone else, somewhere, is involved. Someone is guilty, and it bothers me police do not yet have what they need for another arrest.
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It was Sept. 10 when an SUV drove through an unprotected window and several rooms at First Roots Early Education Academy.
Just off Yonge Street, First Roots is the kind of childcare where parents can only believe children are safe — clean, well-lit, well-furnished. My own son went someplace similar.
And yet, within seconds, Liam Riazati, just 18 months old, was left fatally injured. Nine other people, small children and daycare employees, were hurt.
Anger swelled against the driver. Though this was ruled an accident, people wanted him jailed.
He was charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. No other charges were laid.
Liam’s parents appealed for government action and the government, it must be said, acted. It ordered all Ontario childcares to place barriers in front of unprotected windows and play areas while it reassessed safety standards.
The government this month announced the Liam Riazati Memorial Fund to help childcares erect permanent concrete barriers in 2026. A small price to save young lives.
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On Oct. 8, the third terrible thing happened.
Amir Shafei, a peaceful 54-year-old software developer, was beaten to death in front of his home. Police called the attack unprovoked.
I later spoke with Shafei’s wife of 23 years.
She was calm and kind as she talked about his thoughtfulness, his unwavering faith in the goodness of people and his desire to help others.
I could do nothing but ask her to keep describing the wonderful man she had lost.
A younger man, aged 23, was charged with second-degree murder and two breaches of probation.
We may one day learn why Shafei was attacked, and how this attack could have been prevented. I hope we act on what we learn.
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Three terrible things. Between them was barely a month in Richmond Hill after this summer ended, and the place won’t look the same to me again.
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