A St. John’s man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the random stabbing death of a Toronto teenager.

Twenty-three-year-old Jordan O’Brien-Tobin was originally charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes.

The victim was sitting on a bench in a subway station on the night of March 25 when he was attacked.

At the time, O’Brien-Tobin was wanted for breaching previous court conditions in this province.

The Toronto court heard that before and after the incident he was sending texts to his mother, girlfriend, and friends, stating “someone’s dying” and that he “stabbed someone and got away with it.”

The Crown is seeking 18 years in prison before O’Brien-Tobin would be eligible for parole, while the defence proposed 10 to 14 years.

The agreed statement of facts are disturbingly tragic.

The victim was at the Keele subway station with a friend, waiting for a train, when O’Brien-Tobin walked toward them, stabbed the victim once in the chest and walked away at 8:54 p.m.

It was random and unprovoked.

The friend and witnesses tried to help, and he was rushed to hospital, but was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

O’Brien-Tobin, meanwhile, went to a nearby church and spoke to a priest and lay person with the parish.

“He was acting strange and told them he felt like killing someone. They became concerned and escorted him out of the church approximately 20 minutes later,” according to the facts read in court today.

O’Brien-Tobin was located and arrested a short time later in the waiting room of an area hospital.

He already had a lengthy criminal record in this province, with other, more serious charges laid since he moved to Ontario about three years ago.

He also reportedly struggled with his mental health and substance abuse, and was believed to be homeless at the time of the subway attack.

The matter will return to court in February for a sentencing hearing, which will include the heart-wrenching victim impact statements of family and friends of the victim.