Police have charged two men
with first-degree murder in the death of a North York florist
who suffocated after being bound and gagged by a pair of
robbers who burst into her store just before closing in
late February.
Detective Sergeant Steve Ryan, of the Toronto police homicide
squad, said Andre Clarke, 34, and Nevin Joseph, 22, were
already in jail on “a slew of robbery charges”
when they were linked to the Feb. 28 killing of Felicia
Hosany by forensic evidence.
The body of Ms. Hosany, 51, was found by her husband, Rafick,
after she failed to return home after closing her flower
shop at Wilson Heights Boulevard and Sheppard Avenue.
She was found tied to a chair in the tiny bathroom in the
back of the shop and an autopsy indicated that Ms. Hosany
suffocated on the duct tape with which she had been bound.
Det.-Sgt. Ryan said the two men are believed to have entered
Flowers by Felicia after dark with robbery in mind. “I
think it escalated,” he told a news conference at
police headquarters.
“They went in there to do a robbery and I think things
just got out of control.”
But he said the accused were charged with first-degree murder
because they should have known that the amount of duct tape
they used to gag Ms. Hosany would have suffocated her. “Anytime
you duct tape somebody's entire head and face from [the]
chin up, you'd have to be pretty silly not to think that
that person's going to die,” he said.
“They ought to have known that her ability to breath
was compromised.”
Rafick Hosany said he had gone looking for his wife on Thursday
night when she did not return home as usual after closing
the store. He tried to force his way into the bathroom but
could not and called 911.
Their son, Greg Hosany, said his mother was about to become
a grandmother -- his wife is close to giving birth. “Mothers
aren't supposed to die this way. She was supposed to be
a grandmother, that's not going to happen now,'' said Greg
Hosany.
Ms. Hosany was well known in the small commercial building
which her flower shop shared with a bridal store, dentist
and lawyers' offices, medical clinics and a travel agency.
The killing was Toronto's 10th homicide of the year
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