Ja-born teacher killed in Canada; husband charged with murder

Estella Wheeler, a 64-year-old Jamaica-born schoolteacher was allegedly killed by her husband in Vaughan in Ontario, Canada last Wednesday.

Wheeler was a grades seven and eight teacher at the Africentric Alternative School in North York, Toronto. Her husband, Trevor Wheeler, 68, has since been charged with second-degree murder, according to Canadian media reports.

York Regional police reports are that, on Wednesday, March 6 at approximately 12:30 a.m., police responded to an address on Isa Court, in the area of Highway 27 and Langstaff Road. When officers arrived on the scene, they located a woman with serious injuries. Despite life-saving measures, the victim was pronounced dead on the scene.

Estella is originally from Clarendon in Jamaica, where she attended Clarendon College. The couple migrated from Jamaica and has lived in the community for about 15 years, neighbours told reporters.

Former principal of the Africentric Alternative School, Luther Brown, in a post to X, formerly Twitter, said: “Ms Estella Wheeler, a most dedicated teacher, is ripped from us! This is beyond tragic. I believe her death due to violence is calling us to think, do and be different. As a community, this presents an opportunity for us to find ways to prevent more deaths like this.”

Current principal Hugh Reynolds described Estella as a “well-known, dedicated team member” who “cared for all of her students”.