The ugly side of what goes on behind the walls of one of downtown Toronto’s most notorious addresses has been centre stage in a two-day-old murder trial of a resident accused of killing a woman and cutting her body into pieces with a hack saw.In her opening address, Crown attorney Bev Richards told jurors Toronto Community Housing’s 220 Oak St. “is a reflection of the very heart of a big city like Toronto.” She said it houses ordinary people from a variety of backgrounds “some fighting demons of addiction, some hoping they will remain in recovery and some just trying to make their way in a new country.”Witnesses have described a backdrop of broken elevators, stairways used for crack smoking, chronic bed bugs and highly visible drug-dealing, sometimes involving non-residents.Melissa Cooper didn’t live in the highrise near Gerrard and River Sts., but she knew people who did and was known to visit, including sometimes to score and do drugs. She was making strides to get on a drug and alcohol-free path, but there were slips.Around midnight on the evening of April 14, 2016, Cooper stopped by Maurice Liberty’s apartment and shared a couple of Molson Canadian Cold Shots, a strong beer that comes in a small can. He said he declined her offer of a small bottle of whiskey, but she drank one herself.“Once in a blue moon,” they smoked crack together but not that night, Liberty testified Tuesday at the trial of Ian Albert Ohab who has pleaded guilty to indignity to a dead body but not guilty to first-degree murder. Cooper “seemed pretty sober to me,” he added.Read more: Man admits he dismembered woman whose remains were found behind a Riverdale meat shop, but says he didn’t kill herWhat it’s like to live at one of TCHC’s most problematic addressesTCHC’s most problematic address is showing signs of recoveryLiberty further testified that Cooper abruptly left his 18th-floor unit and ...
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