Man gets life sentence for killing ex-girlfriend in Danzig Street townhouse

A 54-year-old man who murdered his ex-girlfriend and then maimed himself by throwing himself in front of a train has been sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of parole for 18 years.

Last month — on the eve of his trial for first-degree murder — Lascelles Allen pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Suraiya Gangaram, a 31-year-old mother with three daughters.

At the time of the murder, Allen was out on bail for charges of threatening Gangaram with death and assaulting her in August 2014. He had been under a court order to stay away from her.

The Crown told the court that although their relationship had ended after the assault and Gangaram had started a new relationship, she still trusted Allen.

She agreed to meet him at her townhouse on Danzig Street in Scarborough to loan him her TTC pass on May 8, 2015, and that’s when Allen stabbed her to death.

When Gangaram’s eldest daughter arrived home from school, she found her mother’s body on the kitchen floor.

Allen then threw himself off the platform at Guildwood Station, and a VIA train cut off his legs. He now uses a wheelchair.

Judge John B. McMahon said in his sentencing that Gangaram had been “brutally murdered in the sanctity of her own home, causing the children to become orphans.”

At the sentencing hearing, Gangaram’s eldest daughter, who was 14 at the time, said she still has “flashbacks from the day I found my mom in that state.”

“My mom was my everything, my best friend,” she said.

The girls — then six, eight and 14 years old — found themselves in foster care, where the eldest says she was treated like a maid.

After four homes, the girls are now in a loving foster home.

“Why they were treated like that … in that first foster home — three fragile children — is beyond me,” McMahon said.

Allen’s trial for first-degree murder was due to start Jan. 2 before he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.