Uncovered texts reveal alleged gun-for-hire network tied to attempted Project South hit

Court documents filed by Crown prosecutors say the alleged hit on a jail official that triggered the police corruption and organized crime case known as Project South was organized by suspects contracting out the job using aliases on an encrypted messaging platform.

Alleged attempted murder of jail official sparked police corruption investigation

Angelina King · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 17, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

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The alleged hit on a jail official that triggered the police corruption and organized crime case known as Project South was organized by suspects contracting out the job using aliases on an encrypted messaging platform, according to court documents. 

Days before the alleged attempted murder, suspects are accused of using the Signal app to share personal information and photos about the target, a senior corrections officer at Toronto South Detention Centre whose identity is protected by a publication ban. 

The allegations are contained in a factum filed by Crown prosecutors last month in Ontario Superior Court. Based on chats uncovered on seized cellphones, the document paints a picture of how an alleged gun-for-hire network is accused of being behind the alleged attempted murder.

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The Project South investigation began in June 2025 after York Regional Police thwarted the alleged attempted hit after the suspect vehicle collided with a police car that was stationed outside the jail official's home.

Initially, nearly 30 people were charged in Project South including seven Toronto police officers and one retired constable. One of the officers, who has since retired, pleaded guilty last month and one civilian's charge was stayed. 

'Need the hit squad' 

On June 16, 2025, four days before police foiled the alleged attempted murder, Dequon Lemonious, who prosecutors allege went by "Danny Phantom" on Signal, told Median Jackson, who allegedly went by "Lebron James," that he needs someone to drive by an address and confirm whether a vehicle is there. 

WATCH | Surveillance footage of alleged attempted hit:

Surveillance footage captures alleged conspiracy to commit murder

February 25|

Duration 0:22

Security footage released by York Regional Police on Thursday captures the moment an alleged conspiracy unfolded to murder a member of corrections management working at an Ontario detention centre. Police say a number of suspects attended the person’s home over a 36-hour period in York Region. UPDATE (Feb. 25, 2026): Some content has been blurred to remove potentially identifying information.

The factum states Lemonious then messaged Jackson a picture of the jail official's address and vehicle that came from a search of the Ministry of Transportation's (MTO) secure database, believed to have been unlawfully accessed by a Toronto police officer. 

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"If the car there need the hit squad," Lemonious wrote to Jackson, according to the record. 

Amid planning the alleged hit on the jail official, prosecutors allege the two were discussing other "jobs." 

According to the factum, Lemonious would provide information to Jackson who would subcontract the jobs to others to commit offences for money. 

"They discussed recruiting other individuals, as well as the prices for each job and how the money would be split," the court record reads. 

The allegations have not yet been tested in court. 

Others also offered the job 

Police recovered Signal messages from the cellphone of another person accused of conspiring to murder the jail guard just two days before police stopped the alleged planned hit. 

Devonte Barker-Campbell, alleged to have gone by "Dwayne Casey," sent a message to a Signal user named "Thunder" that included a headshot of the jail official, a photo of a map showing his address and the same photo of the official's vehicle and home address from the same MTO search result, according to the court filing.

Thunder ultimately declined the job. Hours later, Barker-Campbell offered the same job to a different person going by "Reality" on Signal.

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"Bro, everything ready. The Same Play, we can run that today. My Hitters Ready. When can we do this?" Reality wrote to Barker-Campbell two days before the alleged attempted hit, according to the court record.

Over the next 36 hours, the two arranged for a team of "hitters" to attend the jail official's home, according to the factum. 

Reality's hitters had difficulties with what the factum describes as their stolen vehicle and sent a video of it to Barker-Campbell. Prosecutors allege it's the same blue Acura that was ultimately intercepted by police at the official's home during the takedown on June 20. 

Inside the vehicle was Almar Heath, two young people who can't be identified, a loaded handgun, surgical masks and gloves, and Heath's phone, which was open to GPS directions to the corrections officer's home, according to the factum.

Heath, Jackson, Lemonious, Barker-Campbell and two youths are charged with conspiracy to murder the jail official. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Lawyers for Health and Barker-Campbell declined to comment. Counsel for Jackson did not provide a comment after CBC News reached out to her office. 

Lemonious is not currently represented by a lawyer. CBC News reached out to his previous lawyer, but did not receive a response. 

While investigating the alleged murder plot, York police discovered Toronto police Const. Timothy Barnhardt was allegedly the person who conducted the illegal search of the jail official's information on the MTO database.

Barnhardt's lawyer previously told CBC his legal team plans to defend him in court, not in the media.

Suspect vehicle cased home 

The first time the blue Acura was seen near the corrections officer's home was two days before the takedown, according to the factum.

Just minutes after the jail official arrived home from work that evening, his grandfather opened the door to a masked male pointing a gun, demanding to know who owned a vehicle in the driveway.

The court filing says his grandfather managed to close the door and a group of suspects fled in the blue Acura, which police spotted near the home again around the same time the next evening. 

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The following day, the car once again went to the house, this time under police surveillance, which led to the early-morning takedown and arrests. 

The factum also alleges a video of the same blue Acura was found on Jackson's phone in a conversation showing Jackson and Lemonious directing an unidentified person in relation to a shooting at a restaurant the week earlier.

The person sent a video of the blue Acura complaining something was wrong with it and so another vehicle was used in the restaurant shooting, according to the court filing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Angelina King is a reporter with CBC Toronto's enterprise unit where she investigates a wide range of topics. She has a particular interest in crime, justice issues and human interest stories. Angelina started her career in her home city of Saskatoon where she spent much of her time covering the courts. You can contact her at angelina.king@cbc.ca or @angelinaaking