MANDEL: Jury rejects abuse defence, convicts son of murdering his mom

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A jury took a day to find Dallas Ly guilty of second-degree murder in the savage death and beheading of his hardworking mom, Tien Ly, in March 2022.

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He blamed the 46-year-old victim for his murderous rage — but jurors were obviously not convinced.

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Ly, 23, had admitted stabbing his mother 27 times with a hunting knife after she returned home to their Leslieville condo from working at the nail salon she owned — but claimed he’d been provoked after years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the single mother.

His lawyers argued he was suffering from PTSD at the time.

Testifying in his own defence, Ly described being hit by his mom with a wooden back scratcher that left scars on his back when he didn’t do well at school, being neglected and left just $5 a day for food, and being told his father was dead when he was really alive.

Ly had finally decided to move out with his aunt but said when he told his mom that evening, she flew into a rage and threatened to kill him and his aunt. He saw “red,” he said, and began swinging his hunting knife.

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Then in a panic after killing her, Ly said he put her body parts in garbage bags and dumped them on Eastern Ave. where a shopper made the grisly discovery the next day.

The Crown didn’t dispute that he was abused but argued Ly was angry and knew exactly what he was doing.

Ly will be sentenced to an automatic sentence of life in prison but a hearing will be held May 31 to determine his parole eligibility.

“While we are disappointed with the verdict, we know that Dallas Ly finally had the opportunity to speak his truth about the abuse that he suffered and as he testified, he never tried to justify his actions,” his lawyer Jessyca Greenwood said in a statement to the Sun.

“This case underlines that there is work to be done at the intersection between mental health and the justice system, and it may be for another court to determine if the procedures in this trial around expert evidence adequately address those nuances.”

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