Getaway driver pleads to manslaughter. Co-conspirator tripped while setting Scarborough restaurant ablaze, died in fire - Toronto Star

After pouring gasoline on a stove, causing an explosion, 26-year-old O'Brien Todd tripped on his way to the front door and died of smoke inhalation. 

O’Brien Todd, right, in the grey hoodie, at the scene of the arson with the 16-year-old boy, centre, who gets gas canisters from the trunk. Todd tripped and died during the arson.

In the middle of the night, O’Brien Todd and two co-conspirators set out to break into a Scarborough restaurant and burn it down. 

But after pouring gasoline on a stove, causing an explosion, the 26-year-old Todd tripped on his way to the front door, and ultimately died of smoke inhalation. 

The fire was one in a string of restaurant arsons at the time in the Kennedy Road and Lawrence Avenue East area. 

A June 22, 2024, arson at a Scarborough restaurant. O'Brien Todd, in the grey hoodie, tripped and died in the fire. The getaway driver, Shiloh Norton, has since pleaded guilty to manslaughter; a 16-year-old boy, carrying the gasoline containers, was found guilty of manslaughter following a trial.

On Friday, the getaway driver, 24-year-old Shiloh Norton, pleaded guilty in a virtually empty courtroom to manslaughter and arson charges, as Crown attorney Melissa Mandel read an agreed statement of facts into the record. 

Norton, Todd and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act arrived at the Molon Lave Taverna just after 1:30 a.m. on June 22, 2024, in a stolen car. Parking lot surveillance footage played in court shows Todd and the youth entering the restaurant, after which a loud explosion can be heard, and smoke fills the screen. 

Smoke fills the screen after a loud explosion.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the youth removed three jerrycans of gasoline from the car’s trunk, while Todd smashed the glass panel of the restaurant’s door so they could gain entry. That triggered an alert notifying the security company. 

Once inside, the pair poured gasoline all over the restaurant, which is also captured on surveillance footage, but was not played in court. 

After setting the fire in the kitchen, “Todd attempts to run to the front door but falls inside,” says the agreed statement of facts. The youth is also “temporarily trapped,” but is eventually able to crawl through the broken glass panel as the establishment burns. 

“Todd does not make it out of the restaurant,” says the statement. 

Breaking news, interactive polls, video, and voice notes. Star stories you’ll want to share, delivered where you’re already chatting. Follow the Star on WhatsApp.

The youth gets back into the stolen car, and Norton drives off. At the time, Norton was subject to a driving prohibition and was bound by a release order that he abide by an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, as well as a probation order that he not possess car keys unless he had the owner’s permission. The charges that led to those orders were not specified in court. 

No indication of a motive for the arson was provided. The case returns in November to confirm a sentencing hearing date. 

The youth was found guilty of similar charges following a trial and faces a sentencing hearing next month. 

Jacques Gallant is a Toronto-based reporter covering courts, justice and legal affairs for the Star. Reach him by email at jgallant@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant