A Toronto man accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend to death in an underground parking lot three years has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Dylon Dowman, who was found guilty of first-degree murder last Thursday after a jury deliberated for less than a day, said nothing to the court Friday when Superior Court Justice Sean Dunphy asked him if he wanted to make an elocution.
Dowman also did not testify at trial.
Dunphy called the 2022 slaying of 23-year-old Daniella Mallia a “planned, premeditated killing,” and noted Dowman has expressed no insight into his offence, or remorse.
On Aug. 18. 2022, Mallia was walking along a pathway towards a courtyard at 2265 Jane St. Dowman, who waited nearly ninety minutes for her to emerge from her residence, ran up from behind and attacked her.
He put his arm around her neck and dragged her into the underground parkade of the townhouse complex.
Video surveillance captured Dowman taking a handgun out of his backpack before he pointed it at her. After four minutes, in which Mallia could be seen pleading for her life, Dowman shot her in the head.
Dowman stood calmly over her body, concealed his gun and left the garage, walking down the street to a TTC bus. He boarded it and went to a nearby mall.
Mallia’s body was found a short time later by a resident of the townhouse complex. Six bullet casings were found next to her body.
Just three days before Mallia’s murder, she called police after receiving threatening text messages from Dowman. In police body worn camera video showed at trial, Mallia could be seen crying as she showed Consts. Sang Youb Lee and Anson Alfonso the messages on her phone.
One read, “Ain’t no coming back from death because you’re done.” Another read “You still breathing because I said so.”
Mallia told the officers, “I’m not that type to put a Black man behind bars,” but said she wanted to get a restraining order.
Undated photo of Dylan Dowman and Daniella Mallia are pictured together in this creative image.
She said she didn’t want to have Dowman charged, but explained she didn’t feel safe and couldn’t relax anymore. One of the officers told Mallia that she was “instigating it” by messaging Dowman after she told him to stop contacting her.
The officers asked Mallia if she had a safety plan, and advised her to stay away from home for a while. They also directed her to a nearby courthouse to get a peace bond, what she referred to as a “restraining order.”
Lee testified, after meeting with Mallia, that Alfonso called Dowman and told him to stop contacting his ex-girlfriend. Dowman told Lee that Mallia was not an ex-girlfriend but an acquaintance, and agreed.
Both officers were later charged until the Police Services Act for failing to handle the complaint properly. Lee has already pleaded guilty to neglect of duty and has been demoted by one rank for at least one year. Alfonso is still before the tribunal.
Speaking about the police handling of Mallia’s complaint, Dunphy said Mallia’s “passionate pleas for help and the gravity of the danger she was in were misunderstood.”
Albert Ingram, father of Daniella Mallia, stands outside a downtown Toronto courtroom on Feb. 28, 2024.
Catherine McDonald/Global News
Amille Ingram (right) is pictured outside a downtown Toronto courtroom on Feb. 28, 2025, with two of Daniella Mallia’s co-workers.
Catherine McDonald/Global News
Court heard emotional victim impact statements from a number of family members and colleagues of Mallia’s who worked with her at Pet Valu.
Her boss, Tim Ader, called Mallia a kind, caring and loyal person who genuinely loved being at work.
Ader spoke about what happened when one of his staff members saw a news alert on her way to work that Mallia had been murdered.
“She collapsed on Bloor Street in tears. Within a few minutes, we were all in shock, tears, disbelief and outrage. That you had killed her. That police had done nothing to protect her,” Ader told court.
Mallia’s sister, Amille Ingram, cried as she spoke about the murder.
“My sister’s name is a call for chance for all women who have lost their life to intimate partner violence,” she said.
Wearing a T-shirt with his daughter’s picture silk screened on the front, Mallia’s father spoke loudly as he addressed Dowman.
“You didn’t have to kill her. She was my favourite daughter. I hope he gets what he deserves. My life is empty without her,” Albert Ingram said.