Son accused of dismembering mother in Toronto testifies in trial

WARNING: This story contains graphic and disturbing images and details of violence.

A man accused of brutally stabbing and dismembering his mother in an east-end condo before leaving her remains in garbage bags on the street told a Toronto jury that while he came from an abusive home, he never intended to kill his mother.

Dallas Ly, 23, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder of his mother Tien Ly. He took the stand Wednesday, telling the court it was never his intention to kill his mother on the night of March 27, 2022.

"I started seeing red, and before I knew it I lost it. I started to swing at her," Ly said. 

Tien Ly, 46, was stabbed 27 times before she was decapitated and her body parts placed in three garbage bags, autopsy reports revealed. The mother lived with her son in a condo building on Carlaw Avenue and Dundas Street East. She suffered a deep stab wound on the left side of her neck, along with other wounds found on her face, neck, and arms. 

Toronto police were notified the next day, on March 28, 2022 after a passerby discovered remains in a garbage bag, near the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Berkshire Avenue, west of Leslie Street.

Shortly after 8 p.m. on March 27, when his mother returned home from work, Ly said that he had informed her about plans to move out to live with his aunt. His mother became enraged and had a "furious look" on her face, he said, and began to shout at him in Vietnamese. 

Ly claimed that she had threatened to kill both him and his aunt, and told him that he owed her $25,000 in rent. Ly, who was 21 at the time, then went to his bedroom to gather himself and grabbed an already packed bag of clothes, court heard.

He said his mother then yelled at him, "Come here right now, and if you don't, I'm going to beat you to death."

Ly said the two had a confrontation at the front door of their condo. He had asked his mother to move away from the door to let him leave but she refused. 

He said that his mother told him, "I hope I see you hungry and homeless on Yonge Street. When you go to your grave, I'm not going to come visit you. I hope you both die," referring to him and his aunt.

He said that's when his mother began to punch him in the jaw. 

Ly then started to swing at her with a hunting knife. When the knife landed in the middle of her neck, she fell to the ground, he said.

At that moment, Ly said he was in disbelief and went to calm himself down.