Re Darrian Wilson, 2025 CanLII 135047

Re: Darrian Wilson

ORB File No: 8494/8617

Hearing held on: Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Place of hearing: Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

Pursuant to: Section 672.81(1) of the Criminal Code

Before:

Alternate Chairperson: Ms. C. Fromstein

Members: Dr. R. Wood Hill

Dr. G. Stones

Ms. J. Mills

Ms. C. Plyley

Parties Appearing:

Accused: Darrian Wilson

Counsel: Ms. V. Strugurescu

The Person in charge of Hospital: Representative: Ms. M. Kraftscik

Attorney General of Ontario: Counsel: Ms. S. Curry

REASONS FOR DISPOSITION

(Dated December 15, 2025)

Introduction

1. On February 16, 2024, Darrian Wilson was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder on a charge of murder, and arson reckless disregard for human life. The date of that index offence was in January 2022.

2. On September 9, 2024, Mr. Wilson was found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder on charges of assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon (x3),

assault, Utter Threat (x2) and Mischief Under $5,000, all contrary to the Criminal Code. These index offences took place in May and August of 2021.

3. Mr. Wilson is currently subject to a disposition dated November 7, 2024, detaining him at the Waypoint High Secure Provincial Forensic Programs, with conditions that include, among others, not to possess incendiary devices and have no contact with Dylan Wilson except with written revocable consent.

4. On November 25, 2025, a panel of the Board convened at Waypoint to review that disposition. Mr. Wilson was represented by counsel, Ms. Victoria Strugurescu. At the outset of the hearing, she advised the Board that Mr. Wilson requested non-attendance as he was uncomfortable attending the hearing. He had instructed counsel to proceed on his behalf. No parties objected and the order was made under s. 672.5(10) permitting his absence from the hearing.

5. The documentary evidence at the hearing was comprised of the Hospital Report dated October 6, 2025, exhibit 2, the neuropsychological risk assessment report dated November 17, 2025, exhibit 3, and the Information with respect to the assault offences against his brother, exhibit 1. In addition, Dr. Komer provided oral testimony.

Index Offences

6. The details of the index offences are set out and last year’s Reasons for Disposition as follows:

“The February 16. 2024 NCR:

“Murder and Arson: Disregard Life

The following details were excerpted from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s Agreed Facts:

On the afternoon of January 5, 2022, Crystal GAYLE visited her mother, Sharon RICHARDS, at her mother’s residence at 267 Geer Terrace in Newmarket, Ontario. With Ms. GAYLE were her three children (5-months old, 10-years old, and 13-years old), whom she had just picked up from school. Ms. GAYLE gave her mother a case of water and some soup. As Ms. RICHARDS returned to her residence from the front porch area, Ms. GAYLE saw her brother, Darrian WILSON, then 26-years of age, standing at the top of the stairs; Ms. GAYLE called for Mr. WILSON to come downstairs, but he did not reply to her and walked away.

Ms. GAYLE returned to her car while continuing to talk to Ms. RICHARDS on her cellphone. She heard her mother shout “Crystal, call the police.” Ms. GAYLE returned to her mother’s residence and tried to enter the home, but the front door was locked.

At approximately 5:09 p.m. Ms. GAYLE called 911 and advised that her mother was screaming for her to contact police; that she could hear Mr. WILSON shouting in the background, and that she was presently outside of her mother’s residence, at 267 Geer Terrace.

York Regional Police Constables Skelly and DeMoel arrived on-scene within one minute of being dispatched; there they observed Ms. GAYLE on the driveway in an agitated state. The officers attempted to contact the occupants of the residence by ringing the doorbell and banging on the door, without success; during this time, Ms. GAYLE told the officers that they needed to assist her mother immediately.

The officers attempted to enter the residence, but the door was locked; from the outside, the officers could see a fire burning inside on the upper stairway area. PC Skelly went quickly to his cruiser to obtain a fire extinguisher, while PC DeMoel used his baton to smash the front door window to unlock the front door. Both officers then entered the residence, which quickly filled with smoke. Once inside, they noticed that multiple fires appeared to be burning and that the element on the stove had been turned on ‘high.’

PC Skelly crawled up the stairs and went into the kitchen; there he observed Mr. WILSON, who held in his hand a flamethrower consisting of an aerosol can with a lighter affixed to it. Mr. WILSON was setting fire to the residence by spraying the flamethrower; he refused police commands to stop. PC Skelly tried unsuccessfully to subdue Mr. WILSON with a taser as well as with pepper spray.

PC DeMoel also crawled up the stairs found Ms. RICHARDS lying unconscious near the base of the stairs leading to the third-floor bedroom area. As PC DeMoel was grabbing Ms. RICHARDS’ hand to tell her to leave, he heard the commotion between PC Skelly and Mr. WILSON and went to assist his partner. The officers were able to physical subdue Mr. WILSON and he was arrested for the offense of attempt murder and assault with a weapon. When Mr. WILSON was asked whether he understood the caution in relation to the making of any statements, he counted out loud from one to 10, then to 20. Mr. WILSON did not reply when asked for his name.

The officers and responding paramedics attempted life-saving efforts on Ms. RICHARDS and she was rushed to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. At 9:39 p.m. Ms. RICHARDS was pronounced dead.

Mr. WILSON was transported to Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket with minor injuries. En route in the ambulance, he gave his name as “Malcolm” but did not provide any other information. Upon arrival at the hospital, Mr. WILSON gave his name as “Malcolm Johnson” and a birthdate approximately ten years earlier than his actual date of birth. Mr. WILSON refused to say anything to the emergency department physician. To another doctor who asked him about stabbing his mother and setting the house on fire, Mr. WILSON replied “Did I”? After receiving an injection of an antipsychotic medication, Mr. WILSON was released back into the custody of the police.

The September 9, 2024, NCR finding:

Assault with a Weapon x3; Assault Cause Bodily Harm; Utter Threat x2; Assault; Mischief Under $5000

Details, below, pertaining to the 2021 offences, were excerpted from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s Agreed Facts. Of note, Count 5 (Mischief Under) was later withdrawn

In May 2021, Darrian WILSON resided at 267 Geer Terrace in Newmarket, Ontario with his mother, Sharon RICHARDS, and his brother, Dylan WILSON.

At approximately 7:03pm on May 1, 2021, Dylan WILSON called 911 to report that that he was in the bathroom, that his brother had an axe and was trying to kill him, and that he was bleeding from the shoulder. Police were immediately dispatched to the residence.

At 7:07pm, York Regional Police Sergeant Dan Fowler #716 arrived on-scene and observed a male party, later identified as Dylan WILSON, at the residence door. Sgt. Fowler mistook Dylan as his brother and arrested him at gunpoint. He was quickly correctly identified because of the bleeding cuts on his arms, assessed by medical personnel and transported to Southlake Regional Health Centre

York Regional Police officers quickly contained the residence and attempted to speak to Mr. Darrian WILSON through an open bedroom window in efforts to convince him to surrender to the police but were unsuccessful. Ms. RICHARDS, who had arrived on scene shortly after Sgt. Fowler, was also unsuccessful in her attempts.

At approximately 9:43pm, after ongoing negotiations with the York Regional Police’s Emergency Response Unit (ERU), Mr. Darrian WILSON exited the residence and surrendered himself into police custody. He was arrested, read his rights to counsel and cautions, and transported to 1 District Headquarters.

Upon arrival at a police station, Mr. WILSON refused to speak with officers. He was placed into a holding cell. There, he urinated on the cell floor instead of the toilet (Count 5, Mischief Under $5000).

A statement was taken from Dylan WILSON in the early morning hours of May 2, 2021. Dylan advised police that both he and Darrian have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. While he takes medication for his disorder, Darrian does not, as he was taken off his medication by his mother approximately three years prior. He advised that Darrian sees things.

When asked about what occurred that day, Dylan advised that he got up around 6:00pm, went downstairs to eat, and then returned upstairs to the attend to the bathroom and browse the internet. While he was in the bathroom, he sneezed, and shortly afterwards, heard Darrian ruffling through something. Darrian then appeared at the bathroom door, holding a black, grey, and yellow axe in both of his hands, and said, “keep sneezing” and “I’m going to kill you” (Count 3, Utter Threat to Cause Death).

A struggle ensued at the bathroom door, as Dylan tried to prevent Darrian from entering the bathroom and Darrian blocked the door from closing with his foot. Dylan reported that Darrian then swung the axe at his abdomen, but missed, striking him on the right arm instead (Count 1, Assault with a Weapon). He then grounded Darrian and tried to take the axe away from him, while Darrian continued trying to hit him with the axe.

Darrian also reportedly stomped on Dylan’s hand and his head (Count 4, Assault). Sometime during this struggle

Dylan was able to call 911 and take a picture of Darrian’s axe. The assault ended once Dylan was able to place himself on top of the axe, pick up his cell phone and exit the bathroom. Darrian stayed upstairs.

As a result of the assault, Dylan sustained deep lacerations to both of his arms, requiring 5 stitches on one arm and 6 stitches on the other (Count 2, Assault Causing Bodily Harm).

Dylan further reported additional incidents that occurred previously. Sometime between March 1 and April 30, 2021, at the family residence, Darrian approached Dylan holding what he thought may have been the same axe and said, “I’m going to kill you”. Dylan did not remember what they were arguing about that day (Count 6, Utter Threat to Cause Death; Count 7, Assault with a Weapon).

Sometime between February 1 and March 31, 2021, at the family residence, he and Darrian got into a heated argument. As he egged Darrian on to fight physically, Darrian grabbed a knife and made his way towards Dylan. The altercation stopped when their mother intervened (Count 8, Assault with a Weapon).

Sometime between April 29 and 30, 2021, at the family residence, Darrian became angry and smashed Dylan’s bedroom door, rendering it inoperable (Count 9, Mischief Under $5000).

Diagnosis and Background:

7. Mr. Wilson’s current diagnoses are Schizophrenia (Paranoid type), Social Anxiety Disorder and Intellectual Developmental Disorder, Mild.

8. Mr. Wilson's background is set out in detail in the Hospital Report and need not be repeated in full. He is presently 29 years of age. It is reported that he is the third eldest in a sibline of eight but appears to know little about most siblings. His parents separated when he was young and he was, by age eight, in foster care. Mr. Wilson was diagnosed with intellectual disability at age 12. It is noted in the neuropsychological report that in March 2017, while residing in a group home, staff contacted police because he was making threats to hurt specific groups of people, which was out of character for him. He was asked to leave the home.

9. Mr. Wilson has long maintained that when he was 15 years old, he forced his three-year-old niece to touch his reproductive parts with her hand and he believes he touched her as well. He reports that this occurred multiple times over a period of two months and his mother and sister told him to stop and he complied.

10. It appears from the records that Mr. Wilson was prescribed antipsychotic medication which he stopped taking in August of 2017. He was thereafter charged in August 2017 with arson, damage to property, as a result of his hacking two trees with a machete and setting them on fire. Mr. Wilson said he did this to make a point because he was angry at the police for reportedly stalking and harassing him. He was admitted to hospital and transitioned to long-acting injectable Risperidone and discharged to his mother’s home in September 2017.

11. In 2019 his mother apparently informed his psychiatrist that she wanted to wean him off antipsychotic medication and his brother confirmed that she did so between 2019 and 2020.

12. In 2020, Mr. Wilson’s brother called police saying that Darrian wanted to kill him and had a knife. When police arrived, they did not find knives and his mother was dismissive. In May 2021, Mr. Wilson attacked his brother with an axe. His mother declined to make a statement and refused to speak to police. He was released from custody at that time and his father acted as surety but in August 2021, withdrew as surety. Mr. Wilson was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital. The index offence wherein he stabbed his mother and lit the house on fire took place on January 5, 2022. He informed forensic psychiatrists that a wolf told him to kill. It is also reported that he has stated he attacked his brother with the axe because his brother sneezed, and he believed his brother was trying to hurt him due to his having committed the sexual abuse of his niece.

Past Treatment Year

13. The neuropsychological report indicates that Mr. Wilson has not participated in many recreational activities due to social anxiety but has participated in some on-unit activities. He frequently asks whether his participation would benefit him at his next ORB hearing. He participated in psychotherapy for six weeks in July 2025, but when the issue of his beliefs in the sexual assault on his niece became a topic, he chose to stop attending.

14. The neuropsychological report opined that Mr. Wilson's long-term risk for violent reoffending is low in a high secure environment and moderate in a secure environment. Mr. Wilson experiences significant social anxiety and depressive symptoms, but his active psychotic symptoms do not appear at this time to be prominent though he may be experiencing sub-syndromal paranoia. The report continues that absent the oversight of the ORB and support of the forensic system; his risk is considered high. His most significant risk factors for violence include a severe mental illness, lack of insight, historical medication non-adherence and executive dysfunction. The report by Dr. Kristen Grimes, Forensic Psychologist at Waypoint, also recommends a medication review to determine if Mr. Wilson’s treatment of his depressive and anxiety symptoms can be optimized and also recommends individual cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis.

15. The Hospital Report notes that Mr. Wilson remains on the assessment unit. He is described as well behaved and medication compliant but notes that his sole motivation for doing so is to move forward towards an absolute discharge. His delusions and paranoia are deemed to be part of his baseline presentation. Mr. Wilson has started computer lab in the past year and works in the greenhouse one day a week, among other endeavors at the hospital.

Testimony of Dr. Komer

16. Dr. Komer testified that Mr. Wilson's psychiatric care was transferred to a new psychiatrist, Dr. Stephanie Bouskill, one and a half months prior to the hearing. Dr. Komer did speak to Mr. Wilson on the date of the hearing. Dr. Komer noted that they had some discussion of a minor incident that took place on November 5, 2025, when Mr. Wilson, on route to dinner left the line running to the computer, was redirected, ran to the message board where the menu is held, but then completed having dinner and returned to his room. When asked why he did this by Dr. Komer, Mr. Wilson had no answer. Dr. Komer testified that overall Mr. Wilson's behaviour and presentation this year are similar to that of last year. The biggest difference is that he is participating in activities including educational pursuits, the computer lab, being a ward worker and attending some groups. He still remains guarded.

17. Mr. Wilson has asked for higher doses of medication. He has not engaged in threatening behaviours, nor required any seclusions and has maximized his use of privileges. When asked how routine sounds people make, such as sneezing and coughing, are impacting him, Mr. Wilson replied that they make his heart race, but he does not know if these sounds mean that people know that he is a sexual offender. He described to Dr. Komer that his mother did make noises on the day of the January 2022 index offences.

18. After asking for an increase in medication, Invega was added to his Olanzapine. Dr. Komer testified that Mr. Wilson appears to feel that if he gets more medication that will assist him in his progress through the Ontario Review Board system. There is no issue with medication compliance.

19. It was raised that Mr. Wilson appears to be more open in a 1:1 social setting. His lawyer asked Dr. Komer what might assist Mr. Wilson in overcoming his anxiety and Dr. Komer advised that him participating in programs would be of assistance in addition to his medication regimen.

20. Dr. Komer expressed his agreement that if Mr. Wilson was transferred to a less secure facility that staff and co-patients would be at risk of serious harm. This is despite Mr. Wilson’s recent behaviours at Waypoint. Dr. Komer explained that in the high secure setting, Mr. Wilson can participate in all activities, which is good for him. Dr. Komer stated that remaining at the high secure facility addresses Mr. Wilson's needs and manages his risk. According to Dr. Komer, if Mr. Wilson's behaviour dynamics remain the same and he has not acted out over an extensive period of time, then there may be a future recommendation to transfer him to a less secure setting, but that is not appropriate at this point.

Submissions

21. Ms. Kraftscik, on behalf of the hospital, maintained her initial position that Mr. Wilson remains a significant threat, and that the necessary and appropriate disposition is a continuation of his current disposition. She referred to the evidence that the high secure facility contains his risk and Dr. Komer’s evidence that he would not want to take the risk of transferring Mr. Wilson to a less secure facility.

22. Ms. Curry, on behalf of the Crown, joined that position as did Ms. Strugurescu, on behalf of Mr. Wilson.

Analysis and Conclusion

23. The Board finds that Mr. Wilson remains a significant threat to the safety of the public as defined by Winko. We appreciate this was the joint position of the parties, but we make this finding independently on the evidence before us. Mr. Wilson’s index offences were of the most serious and occurred in the recent past. He continues to be quite guarded in his presentation, so it is difficult to assess the level of his current symptoms of his mental disorder. Mr. Wilson continues to hold the beliefs that others may show their awareness of his having sexually assaulted his niece and he has demonstrated through the violent index offences the level of significance he attaches to that belief.

24. Mr. Wilson has in the past treatment year shown good behaviour. He has not acted out violently towards any person. He takes his medication as prescribed; however, his motivation for this is strongly linked to his desire to achieve an absolute discharge. His delusions and paranoia are part of his baseline presentation.

25. We accept the evidence of Dr. Komer that Mr. Wilson requires the high secure facility of Waypoint to manage his risk. Remaining at Waypoint will enable Mr. Wilson to participate in a full suite of programs that would not be available to him in a less secure facility and assist in reducing his social anxieties moving forward. At this time, we accept the evidence that to move him to a less secure facility would pose too great a risk to other persons due to his ongoing beliefs. Continued programming, development of greater insight and becoming less guarded are hoped for in the upcoming year. This will also provide the treatment team with a greater sense of his mental state.

26. We order that Mr. Wilson’s disposition be continued, without change.

27. We make this disposition in consideration of the primary factor of protection of the safety of the public, Mr. Wilson’s mental condition, his reintegration into society and his other needs.

DATED this 15th day of December 2025, at the City of Toronto, in the Toronto Region.

Ms. C. Fromstein

Alternate Chairperson

__________________

Office of the Registrar

Ontario Review Board