One-punch killer identified as Halifax homicide victim

A self-admitted “nasty drunk” sentenced to six years in prison nearly five years ago for killing a Halifax man with one punch has just been identified as a homicide victim.

Troy Edward William Clayton pleaded guilty to manslaughter in February of 2021 for the 2017 killing of Benjamin Lokeny.

“The Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service conducted an autopsy and identified the victim as 59-year-old Troy Clayton from Halifax,” said a Thursday news release from Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. Martin Cromwell.

The force doesn’t “believe the incident was random.”

Halifax police “are looking for anyone who may have dashcam footage from Gottingen Street, between Charles Street and Uniacke Street, from 11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday Nov. 26, to contact police. Those with video or information are asked to call police at 902-490-5020,” said the statement.

It noted “Halifax Regional Police extend their condolences to Mr. Clayton’s loved ones.”

“We are in the early stages of the investigation and, at this time, do not have information to share regarding a possible motive,” Cromwell said in an email in response to a question about whether investigators think Clayton’s death had anything to do with Lokeny’s killing.

Police won’t say how Clayton died. “We are also in the midst of collecting witness statements, so we are not ready to release further details about how Mr. Clayton was killed,” Cromwell said.

According to the January 2023 decision granting Clayton full parole, he punched Lokeny “once in the face. (Lokeny) fell backwards and hit his head on the sidewalk; (Clayton) then walked away from the scene.”

Lokeny died from his injuries a month later. His cause of death: blunt force trauma to the head.

Clayton told the parole board that Lokeny “kind of” provoked him before he struck him in the face.

After he discovered Lokeny died from his injuries, Clayton didn’t think he “would face any serious charges,” given that (he’d) only punched him once,” said the parole decision.

Clayton wasn’t arrested for the killing until March of 2019. He got out on parole in January 2023.

“Asked about your involvement in multiple assaults between 2017 and 2019, you said that when you are drunk you simply react without thinking, and that you were a ‘nasty drunk.’ The women against whom you used violence, you said, were fellow addicts who also were violent towards you,” said his 2023 parole decision.

At the time of its writing, Clayton’s criminal record stretched back more than three decades, with 76 prior convictions. He garnered 14 more between the time of Lokeny’s death and Clayton’s arrest for that killing.

“Over half of these convictions are related to failures to comply with court ordered sanctions, while the rest are made up of property related offences, drug related offences, impaired driving, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, as well as uttering threats and six convictions for assault,” said the parole board.

The judge who sentenced him for manslaughter noted Clayton’s guilty plea, the absence of weapons and that he only hit Lokeny once were mitigating factors in his case.

“Aggravating factors were your criminal record, your history of alcoholism, and the serious results of the offence,” said the parole board.

Clayton was convicted of a 2013 assault that happened during a night of drinking with his intimate partner.

“You pushed her to the ground and grabbed her by the throat,” said the parole board.

He was on bail at the time with the condition to stay away from booze.

“In 2014, you again assaulted your intimate partner while drinking, you pushed her against a wall and hit her in the face multiple times,” said the parole board.

He punched an intimate partner in the face in 2016, then acted aggressively with police when they showed up.

“In 2017 you were convicted of uttering threats. During that offence, you were intoxicated and were threatening people outside of a thrift store when you were denied entry to the store,” said the parole board.

“You were originally arrested for public intoxication, however you continued to threaten police. In 2019, you were in an altercation with your brother when a neighbour tried to break up the fight; you then both attacked the neighbour.”

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