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An off-duty firefighter has died after being stabbed in the head “without provocation” several times at a Danforth café early Saturday morning, Toronto police said.

Dominic Parker, 45, died from his wounds in hospital after he was attacked at 1:18 a.m. at Rotana Café in the Danforth and Coxwell Avenues area. Mr. Parker was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital around 2 a.m., and died from severe head wounds shortly after midnight Sunday. Police have charged a 23-year-old man with first-degree murder.

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“The family is completely devastated to have their husband and father completely ripped out of their lives so violently and so fast,” said Jay Michaels, the media representative of Mr. Parker’s family.

Mr. Parker had been married for 23 years to his high school sweetheart and has two daughters, 18 and 19, both of whom are in their first year at Concordia University in Montreal.

The family is completely devastated to have their husband and father completely ripped out of their lives so violently

Aside from being a firefighter in Markham, Mr. Parker also worked as a freelance set designer and had just finished shooting a Christmas commercial Friday night around 8 p.m., said Mr. Michaels. He and two friends from the production crew decided to have a couple of beers at a nearby bar and after several hours they parted ways. Mr. Parker went to pick up his bike, which he had parked on Danforth Avenue.