We cannot forget this little boy’s story
There are some tragedies that never take their leave of you.
Even for a reporter far removed from the actual events.
The brutal mistreatment and death of seven-year-old Randal Dooley — unmourned by the stepmother who beat him mercilessly, ignored by a father who was rarely present (he told police the child must have committed suicide) — hasn’t receded these past 26 years.
Randal’s sad fate wasn’t of much concern either to the parole board that last week granted extended parole for Marcia Dooley, ordering a full parole hearing to come, a decision which will take into account “Black Social History” factors — a lens that diminishes culpability, correctly acknowledging historical and societal impacts for Black offenders in the correctional system — but of no relevance in this case due to the brutality of the crime. Other than Marcia Dooley is Black, as was Randal and older brother Teego, little boys brought from Jamaica to reside with their father Tony Dooley and his new wife in Toronto.
Randal stood three-foot-ten and weighed 41 pounds at death, his emaciated body covered with hundreds of bruises, cuts and welts. During the 10 months he lived in that house of horrors, he was incessantly battered, physically and emotionally. When the child vomited after being force-fed, as a jury heard, he was forced by Marcia Dooley to eat it.
An autopsy showed Randal had suffered four brain injuries, 13 fractured ribs, a lacerated liver, a fractured vertebra, developing pneumonia and he’d swallowed a tooth. Tony Dooley, when questioned, claimed Randal had fallen earlier from the upper bunk. A pathologist likened the injuries to having been in a car crash.
Justice Eugene Ewaschuk, who presided over Marcia Dooley’s trial, said: “This may be the worst case of child abuse in Canadian penal history.”
Only Teego showed Randal any kindness. It was Teego who, on the night Randal died — after his brother had fallen climbing into his bunk bed — pulled Randal out of a bathtub filled with ice water where Marcia Dooley had put him after yet another beating. The cold water was allegedly intended to revive Randal, who’d fallen unconscious. But after dumping him in the tub, the stepmother left him alone, purportedly on the advice of her husband.
Teego pulled him out, dressed him in PJs, and tucked him into bed, lying down beside his brother as they both slept. By morning, Randal was dead.
Teego and a baby half-brother were taken into care by Children’s Aid.
Marcia Dooley was convicted in 2002 of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, with no parole eligibility for 18 years. Tony Dooley, also sentenced to life for second-degree murder with no chance of parole for 13 years, was granted full parole last year and deported. Court had found that Marcia Dooley was the one who’d fatally struck Randal and meted out most of the abuse while her husband turned a blind eye.
The corrections system in Canada is at least as much about rehabilitation — facilitating entry into life outside prison — as it is about denunciation and punishment. Thus, impressed by Marcia Dooley’s alleged transformation into a responsible person behind bars. Thus, her gradual return to the continue has been on a steady trajectory, from day parole in a halfway house in 2022, expanded to sixmonth unescorted increments and, as of the in-office review released last week, five days in the community and only two at a halfway house.
According to her criminal history, Marcia Dooley had a prior conviction for assaulting a police officer and withdrawn charges for accessory after the fact and fraud over $5,000.
“You report you feel police were racist and that you (were) disadvantaged because you were ‘Black and poor,’ ” the panel wrote. “At this juncture, your risk to the public and any mitigation of risk is the focus of a release with the consideration of BSH.”
But, you know, Dooley had underlying issues as a woman with a volatile temper, no impulse control — clearly not an ounce of compassion for a tortured child — and a history of unstable relationships.
At her most recent psychological assessment, she was determined to be at low risk for general and violent recidivism. A correction plan updated in July evaluates Dooley as “making substantial gains in all domains … You are assessed as making substantial gains in all domains.”
Well bully for Dooley, so manageable for enhanced parole, with conditions attached that include: Reporting all sexual and non-sexual relationships and friendships with both males and females; not being alone with children under the age of 16 unless accompanied by a responsible adult “who is aware of your criminal history.”
Long divorced, Dooley has said she intends to live with a female friend in the Barrie area and is forbidden from travelling to Toronto without permission.
Randal Dooley lies in a grave at Pinehill Cemetery. Strangers paid for his tombstone.