Let me tell you about a murder one.

Which has now intersected with the coronavirus pandemic.

Samatar Farah was a 24-year-old college student when he was gunned down in the early morning hours of April 15, 2017. Just sitting outside his home in Scarborough, minding his own business.

Killed not because of who he was or anything he’d done – the young man was a recreational basketball player, mere months away from graduation at George Brown and had no criminal record. But, police said at the time, because of where he lived.

There’d been this purported neighbourhood beef, see, between a group of swaggering toughs from a Parma Court housing complex and a Chester Le Boulevard housing complex.

Farah had no involvement with either. Indeed, he was so well-liked and respected in his hardscrabble corner of the city that the local Somali community donated more than $20,000 to help pay for his funeral.

His body was found by a passerby in the adjacent parking lot. Farah had been shot by two men who’d approached him, then jumped into a vehicle – two other men inside it – that fled the scene.

Farah hadn’t been “specifically” targeted, Det. Jason Shankaran told a press conference afterwards.

“It is alleged that these shootings are a result of an ongoing feud between persons,” residing in the two complexes. “The family has been devastated by this loss and by this senseless crime.”

Describing Farah as “one of the good guys,” Shankaran said: “The only thing he did was be a resident of Chester Le Boulevard. Later, after two suspects were arrested, Shankaran added that describing the death as merely tragic was inappropriate; didn’t quite seize the essence of the crime.

“Tragic would mean somehow he had something to do with his death. His life wasn’t senseless and pointless, but his death was.”

There had been another shooting on the same block just days earlier, three men fired at, two seriously wounded.

Think of block parties. Then think of block grudges with weapons to hand and no apparent reluctance to use them.

Casting some light on the complexity – or stupidity – of the hostility between the two neighbourhood factions is what happened just two days before the arrest of one of the suspects a year and a half later. Another man had been shot near Eglinton and Oakwood Avenues, taken to the hospital with multiple injuries. That’s when police realized he was wanted in connection with the Farah murder. They charged Shaquan McLean with three counts of attempted murder.

Two other suspects had been nabbed three months after Farah’s murder. One of them was Taufiq Stanley, then 20 years old.

He’s been in custody since, awaiting trial that’s now scheduled for October, and has no criminal record.

On Tuesday, Stanley participated in an audio conference hearing, where the deadly COVID-19 pandemic became a focus of submissions, and specifically, the circumstances at the Toronto South Detention Centre. Part of what public health authorities have been referring to as “congregant” settings, although that makes it sound more like a church than a jail. Stanley suffers from asthma.

Jails and penitentiaries across Ontario, across Canada, have been urged, amidst this pandemic, to allow early release for convicted felons who are nearing the end of their sentence, specifically because of the risk of contracting the virus in these cheek-by-jowl living conditions. Ditto to bail as many as possible from institutions such as Toronto South, which is a remand facility – accused awaiting trial, not yet convicted of anything.

But the general rule of thumb is that those afforded a get-out-of-jail card are not violent offenders, or accused of violent offences, and not a risk for the community.

Taufiq Stanley is charged with first degree murder. It doesn’t come any more serious than that.

For an hour on Monday, Stanley’s top-drawer defence lawyer Dirk Derstine had the deputy superintendent of Toronto South on the witness stand – well, virtually speaking – undergoing cross examination. John Marchant is also the lead for pandemic planning at the facility.

Marchant provided, if nothing else, an intriguing peek at what’s happening in the jails as COVID-19 continues to rage through societies.

Just this week, the Ministry of the Solicitor General announced it had shut down a provincial jail in Brampton – it’s a dormitory-style complex – after 60 inmates and eight staff had tested positive. Starting last April 16, 112 inmates from that Brampton joint have been transferred to Toronto South: 62 who’d tested positive, 18 negative, 34 with results pending.

“All of them have been transferred to your institution,’’ said Derstine. “Lucky you.”

“We swabbed every one of them,’’ said Marchant.

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The Brampton transplants have been separated and isolated from the general population, which currently stands at 970. A month ago they were at 1,200. About 50 of the “clients,” as Marchant calls them, had been swabbed. Before arrival of the Brampton incoming, Toronto South had three cases of potential COVID-19, including two fellows who’d been delivered by Toronto police last week. Two of those cases have been “resolved” – one tested negative, one person was released.

As of April 18, all have been separated and isolated from the general population.

Derstine pointed out that symptoms might not show up in an infected person for up to two weeks after contracting the virus.

“Exactly,” responded Marchant. “Which is why our controls are isolating everybody coming into the building for a period of 14 days to see if they do develop symptoms.”

Guards are not routinely tested but everyone entering the building has their temperature taken. “We have not ordered any staff to be swabbed. They retain the rights to their own medical treatment and information.’’

Anyone coming in could be infected?

Marchant: “Hypothetically.”

But, crucially, Stanley isn’t housed with the general population. He’s staying in what’s called Medical Housing Unit B, considered an isolation wing, along with some 22 others (as of Tuesday) considered to be at high risk because of their health and underlying conditions.

There’s no intermingling of “clients” with Medical Housing Unit A or the general population, though the guards and health care staff are sometimes shifted. Guards are not mandated to wear personal protective equipment, except in high risk situations such as frisking. “I issue personal protective equipment to anyone in this building who wants it,” said Marchant. “In areas where it’s not mandated, staff are allowed to wear their own.’’

An issue of complaint in recent weeks, that, by unions representing correctional officers.

All inmates are provided with sanitizer and paper towels and single-use wipes to disinfect surfaces, such as shared phones and “video suites” for audio-conferencing. “Inmates are able to use gloves if they want to cover the phones,” said Marchant. “If someone develops a cough or cold, we pull them off. We’ll lock that entire unit down, disinfect, (take) droplet precautions.’’

Derstine: “You would agree prison units are a great place to spread the virus, much better than people sheltering at home?’’

Marchant: “I would suggest that there’s probably an inherent greater risk to sharing a unit with 30 people than living at home with your family.”

Derstine has filed a supporting affidavit from Toronto epidemiologist Dr. Aaron Orkin to bolster his case. The affidavit, which warns of outbreak peril in crowded conditions such as jails, has been used at several bail applications in recent weeks.

The deputy superintendent emphasized, however, that they’ve seen no evidence of transmission within Toronto South. But they wouldn’t necessarily see it yet, would they, if contamination has been imported?

We’ve all been turned inside-out to social distance and self-isolate and stay at home. COVID-19 is a scourge that, as of this writing, had infected 2.5 million people globally, killing upwards of 180,000. There have been outbreaks at multiple Canadian federal penitentiaries and provincial jails.

In the case of Taufiq Stanley, Justice Al O’Marra will make the call on bail. Final submissions are scheduled for Wednesday.