The family of the man accused in the deadly van attack that shocked Toronto last month is grieving for the victims but stands by the accused, the man鈥檚 lawyer said Thursday as three new charges were laid against his client.

Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, Ont., now faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in the April 23 incident.

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Eight women and two men died after a rental van mounted a sidewalk along a busy street in north Toronto and ran down pedestrians in its path. Authorities initially said 13 people were injured that day but further investigation revealed three others were also hurt.

Following a brief hearing where three new attempted murder charges were laid against Minassian, his lawyer said outside court that his client鈥檚 family was devastated.

鈥淭hey appreciate the devastation on many other families as well,鈥� Boris Bytensky said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to allow everyone to grieve. They send their condolences and really their prayers for everyone affected by this.

鈥淭hey stand behind their son and are very respectful of the court process,鈥� Bytensky said, adding that he didn鈥檛 want to talk about how his client was doing.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a time to discuss Mr. Minassian, this is still a grieving period for the city,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are many families that are grieving for those lives lost and those injured.鈥�

Minassian appeared in court by video from jail, standing straight with his arms at his side, and didn鈥檛 say a word. Several people in court cried during the brief hearing, which concluded with the case being put over to Sept. 14.

Bytensky said the adjournment in the case is a little longer than usual because the Crown has a lot of disclosure to go through before handing it over to the defence. He added that he had no intention of litigating the case through the media.

Insp. Bryan Bott, the head of Toronto鈥檚 homicide squad, said shortly after the attack that police hadn鈥檛 identified a motive, but that the evidence they had didn鈥檛 meet the threshold for terrorism charges.

Bytensky said there鈥檚 no evidence thus far that suggests the attack was an act of terrorism.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people who were terrified,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his was obviously a very terrifying incident, but there鈥檚 no terrorism as we usually use that term involved in this case.鈥�

Those who died in last month鈥檚 attack ranged in age from 22 to 94, and included a student from South Korea and a man from Jordan.

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Eight people injured in the attack remain either in hospital or a rehabilitative facility, Bott said Thursday.

Saron Gebressellassi, a lawyer helping out many of those injured, was at Minassian鈥檚 court appearance.

鈥淭he families want to know what鈥檚 going on here,鈥� Gebressellassi said. 鈥淏ut their priorities are elsewhere, so I鈥檓 going to let them know.鈥�

She went to Sunnbyrook Hospital on the day of the attack to help the victims, and said questions from them and their families go far beyond medical concerns.

鈥淚 would be getting so many questions from people about how to pay the mortgage, how do we pay the rent,鈥� she said. 鈥漈hat鈥檚 what people don鈥檛 see 鈥� come the first of the month, the rent is due.鈥�

Gebressellassi said she鈥檚 gotten close to Amaresh Tesfamariam, an Eritrean-Canadian who has no immediate family in Toronto but whose family is travelling in and out of the United States to be by her bedside.

鈥淪he鈥檚 still in the ICU,鈥� Gebressellassi said. 鈥淭he family is praying for the best. It鈥檚 very, very serious.鈥�

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press

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