A Toronto man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of a Brampton teen who was allegedly kidnapped, shot and found dead on the side of the road in Milton in June 2020.
The 28-year-old man was initially charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of Ezekiel Agyemang, 16. He entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Milton on Friday, according to Halton Regional Police.
Police have said Agyemang — a Grade 10 student at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Brampton, Ont. — was innocent and only targeted because he was friends with a man involved in a dispute with the suspects.
They allege he was kidnapped in Brampton, Ont., on June 29 and held against his will until he was shot to death. A passerby found his body by the side of the road in a rural part of Milton on June 30.
Agyemang was known as “Zeke” to his family and friends. Police said his cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound.
Halton police said in a news release on Monday that four people were originally arrested and charged in the case. Charges against two of them were stayed and the charges against the fourth accused is still before the courts.
“Although the tragic loss of Zeke will continue to be felt by his family and throughout the community, the Halton Regional Police Service hopes this outcome will bring some measure of healing,” police said in the release.
The accused is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, 2024.