TV actor on Degrassi faces charge of murder

By STEPHANIE LEWIS

With a report from Canadian Press

Tuesday, December 3, 2002 Print Edition, Page A27

The man who once played Jason Cox on the Canadian television show Degrassi Junior High has been charged with second-degree murder in the beating death of a 23-year-old man.

Tyson Talbot, now 30, appeared on television screens as Jason, the preteen representative on school council who was obsessed with soccer, swimming and competition. Before that role, he played Billy Martin on the Kids of Degrassi Street.

Police said that in the early hours of Friday morning, Christopher Shelton went out to an east-side restaurant to eat with friends after spending a night on the town. While there, he got into an argument with a man who was accompanied by two women.

At 3:30 a.m., as Mr. Shelton was leaving, he was punched in the head causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement, police said.

He was momentarily left lying unconscious on the sidewalk.

Witnesses reported a man walking away, then turning around and kicking Mr. Shelton in the head as he lay motionless on the ground.

The alleged assailant then left in a taxi.

Mr. Shelton’s friends called 911, which brought police, fire department and ambulance personnel to the scene where they administered emergency first-aid. He died later at St. Michael’s Hospital. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt-force injuries to the head.

On Saturday around noon, Mr. Talbot was arrested at gunpoint in the area of Jones Avenue and Dundas Street. He was brought to the 55 Division precinct where he was charged, and is currently in custody awaiting bail.

Police continue the investigation, including sealing Mr. Talbot’s home.