An Ottawa court has sentenced 20-year-old student Febrio De-Zoysa to life in prison for the horrific killing of six people — a Sri Lankan mother, her four young children, and a family friend — in what Justice Kevin Phillips called a “stupefying, monstrous” act of violence.
De-Zoysa, who was living in the basement of the family’s townhouse, fatally stabbed 35-year-old Darshani Ekanayake, her children Inuka (7), Ashwini (4), Ranaya (3), and two-month-old Kelly, along with family friend Gamini Amarakoon (40). The children’s father, Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, survived but was left gravely injured.
The massacre took place on March 6, 2024, in what Ottawa’s mayor later described as “one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city’s history.” The victims, except the baby, had recently immigrated from Sri Lanka seeking a better life in Canada.
During sentencing on Thursday, Justice Phillips told the court, “You are the stuff of nightmares… You have caused so much loss and grief.” De-Zoysa will not be eligible for parole for 25 years.
Prosecutors detailed that De-Zoysa, facing financial struggles and an expiring student visa, had bought a 38-centimetre hunting knife a month earlier — originally intending to use it on himself. Instead, he used it to commit the murders after luring Amarakoon to his basement under the pretense of watching a movie. When the victim’s screams alerted Ekanayake upstairs, she called her husband, but De-Zoysa lied, saying the noise came from a film. Moments later, he went upstairs and killed her and the children.
When Mr. Wickramasinghe returned home hours later, he was attacked but managed to fight off the assailant. Neighbours heard his screams and called police, who arrived to find De-Zoysa sitting calmly on the front steps. “I was going to be deported. I had no choice. I killed them all,” he reportedly told officers.
In court, De-Zoysa expressed remorse, saying softly, “I will spend the rest of my life acknowledging the truth of what I did.”
Family members spoke of unimaginable grief. Amarakoon’s widow, Dishani Asangika Fernando, joined the hearing via video link from Sri Lanka, saying her husband had “given everything to us — his time, his energy, his dreams.” Their teenage daughter, Asheri Hiyansa, said, “Nothing feels normal anymore.”
The surviving father, Mr. Wickramasinghe, told the court that the tragedy “destroyed my whole world.” Having brought his family to Canada for peace and opportunity, he urged others: “Please do not destroy the peace and quiet of this land. Let us protect and respect it.”
Justice Phillips’ final words captured the courtroom’s somber tone: “What you did, Mr. De-Zoysa, will echo through generations. It is beyond comprehension.”