Court documents reveal that the alleged targeting of a jail official, which sparked the police corruption and organized crime investigation known as Project South, was orchestrated by individuals using pseudonyms on an encrypted messaging platform.
Prior to the purported assassination attempt, suspects purportedly utilized the Signal app to exchange personal details and images of the target, a high-ranking corrections officer at Toronto South Detention Centre whose identity is shielded by a court order.
These claims are outlined in a legal brief submitted by Crown prosecutors in Ontario Superior Court last month. The document, referencing conversations unearthed from confiscated cellphones, outlines how an alleged network involved in hiring hitmen is accused of being linked to the supposed assassination attempt.
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The investigation into Project South was initiated in June 2025 following York Regional Police’s intervention in the purported assassination plot, which was disrupted when the suspects’ vehicle collided with a police car stationed near the jail official’s residence.
Initially, almost 30 individuals were charged in connection with Project South, including seven Toronto police officers and one retired constable. One officer, now retired, pleaded guilty recently, while one civilian’s charge was dropped.
‘Need the hit squad’Â
On June 16, 2025, four days before the foiled alleged murder attempt, an individual identified as Dequon Lemonious, allegedly using the pseudonym “Danny Phantom” on Signal, reportedly instructed Median Jackson, known as “Lebron James,” to verify the presence of a specific vehicle at an address.