Sudbury man gets life sentence for violent attack on woman and her baby
The man who pleaded guilty to a vicious 2019 knife attack on a Sudbury woman and her baby has been sentenced to life in prison.
Alexander Stavropoulos, 28, has been sentenced to life in prison for the random attack that happened in a busy box store parking lot on Marcus Drive in early June 2019.
In a Sudbury court on Wednesday, Justice Karen Lische recounted the facts in the case saying on the day of the attack Stavropoulos took a bus from his apartment to get a coffee, then made his way to Home Depot and purchased a pack of four utility knives. It was stated that he was looking for larger knives but he took what they had. He discarded two of the knives in the parking lot and kept the other two.
Stavropoulos waited hours for the "right little white girl" to kill, Lische said, and when he saw a baby in a stroller, with her mother and three-year-old sister, he knew she was "the one."
It was also said that Stavropoulos knew he had to kill the baby’s mother first so that he could execute his plan to kill the young child.
He targeted these strangers because of their gender, Caucasian race, and the youngest child because of her age, Lische said.
At the sentencing hearing, the court heard that the mother Stavropoulos attacked is permanently disabled now, after being stabbed several times in the attack more than two years ago.
Lische said the first stab was to the back of the woman's neck before she was repeatedly stabbed in the neck and head.
There was a significant injury to the mother, who nearly died, Lische said.
The court also heard the attacker had tried to stab the women’s 8-month-old baby and punched at the stroller five to six times.
"His motivation, in whole or part, was hatred of white females as he felt rejected by them," Lische said.
"Although the nature of the attack was unprovoked and random, it was focused on Alexander Stavropoulos' clear intent to kill a young white girl."
She said the lives of the "heroic bystanders" -- who helped save two people that day – are forever traumatized by the events. One of the people who "helped save the mother's life" was a family medicine resident who worked in the emergency room at Health Sciences North.
Stavropoulos has been in jail since the stabbing took place.
He will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years in prison.
The 2019 incident was not his first violent attack in Sudbury. Stavropolous served 99 days in jail for another knife attack at the Sudbury transit terminal on April 1, 2018. He was on probation at the time of the second attack.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6947028.1719779131!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Canada Day is forecast to be rainy for many this year. Here's a look at weather and fireworks celebrations
Canada turns 157 years old this year, and several fireworks shows across the country are expected to paint the night skies in celebration. Here's a look at the forecast and fireworks celebrations across the country for Canada Day in 2024.
Gathered at Camp David, Biden's family tells him to stay in the race and keep fighting
U.S. President Joe Biden's family used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance.
B.C.'s Michael J. Fox joins Coldplay on stage at Glastonbury Festival
A crowd of around 100,000 people were treated to a surprise appearance from a B.C. star during Coldplay’s set at Glastonbury Festival in England this weekend.
Are you proud to be Canadian? Poll suggests that feeling is dwindling
A new poll suggests the vast majority of Canadians are proud of their home and native land, but our sense of national pride is lower than it was a few years ago.
WestJet calls on feds for ‘urgent clarity’ around strike after 800 flights cancelled
A strike by WestJet plane mechanics forced the airline to cancel hundreds more flights on Sunday, upending the plans of roughly 110,000 travellers over the Canada Day long weekend and prompting the carrier to demand action from the federal government.
Neighbour on the hook for $3,675 in damages due to ‘nuisance cedar’: B.C. tribunal
A B.C. man who reneged on a deal to split the cost of removing a tree with his next-door neighbour is now on the hook for the whole amount, B.C.’s civil resolution has ruled.
A study identified 6 types of depression. Here’s why that matters
Scientists may be a step closer to that reality, thanks to new research that has identified six subtypes — or 'biotypes' — of major depression via brain imaging combined with machine learning.
Russian state media claim Kanye West is visiting Moscow
Unconfirmed reports say American rapper and producer Kanye West is visiting Moscow. If true, it would make West the first major American celebrity to visit Moscow since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
RCMP says a police chase involving an RV in Lloydminster has resulted in multiple injuries
Several people were injured Saturday night after a man allegedly stole an occupied RV during a police chase at a campground in Lloydminster.