Man charged with attempted murder of 5-year-old Brampton boy

Peel regional police have charged a 28-year-old man with attempted murder after a missing five-year-old Brampton boy was found near train tracks a few blocks from his home with a life-threatening head injury.

Dyon Smart of Brampton was arrested shortly after and is “known to the family” of the boy, Const. Harinder Sohi said.

Smart also is charged with aggravated assault, failing to comply with recognizance and breach of a probation order.

Const. Sarah Patten said Smart has a “previous criminal history,” but she could not confirm the specifics.

The boy remains in hospital in stable but critical condition.

According to police, the boy’s mother last saw her son at 2 a.m. But when she woke up later, her son was gone and the front door was open. Police were called just after 6 a.m.

The boy was found just before 7 a.m. with the help of the police canine unit near the train tracks, a few blocks from his home in the McHardy Court and McMurchy Avenue area, near Queen Street and McLaughlin Road.

“In terms of how and where exactly this all took place, that’s still part of our investigation and we’re not speaking to that just yet,” said Sohi.

Patten said the force’s special victims unit is involved in the investigation.

“It’s completely unacceptable that this happened to a child,” she said.

Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said the tracks are used by freight trains, a few blocks from the GO tracks.