Yorke is a fictional character from the Canadian teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Before he is able to rekindle his relationship with Liberty, he is stabbed to death by Drake Lempkey, a student from rival school Lakehurst, puncturing his aorta and killing him.

[2] Ryan Cooley discovered that he was leaving the series in April 2006, shortly before filming commenced on the sixth season.

While admitting that he was surprised at the death of his character, Cooley had already been contemplating leaving the series to concentrate on his university studies.

[1] Throughout the series, J. T. is portrayed as a class clown whose joking often draws accusations of immaturity, including from Liberty and Manny Santos, who he briefly dated in the fourth season.

[3] Despite his humorous attitude, he is shown to be very supportive, staying with Liberty during her pregnancy, and defending Paige Michalchuk (Lauren Collins) following her rape.

[4] J. T. aids Manny and Toby in stopping Emma from being raped during a meeting with a sexual predator who posed as someone her age.

[7] When Emma has her period, J. T. mocks her for coming to class in oversized shorts, not knowing her other clothes were stained.

In anticipation of its premiere, he invites students from Degrassi, including Manny, the only one to not laugh at the commercial.

Even after Sean and Jay mock him for his role in the commercial, she gives him a positive reception and the pair become friends again.

When Liberty sings their rebellion song to the school principal, the pair end up in detention, where they share their first kiss and begin a relationship.

After Danny deliberately gets the two in trouble, he gets into a fight with J. T., but later makes up for it by covering for the two when his father comes home.

The following day, J. T. and Liberty argue over his immaturity and her controlling ways before she reveals she's pregnant, causing a surprised J. T. to crash his car.

J. T. breaks up with Liberty after she continues to ignore his pleas for her to go to the doctor, but he gets a job at a pharmacy and swears to not abandon his unborn child.

[18] Danny learns of the pregnancy soon after and attacks J. T. and promises not to tell as long as the latter helps him with an assignment taking care of a baby doll.

As a result, J. T. quits the job he loves at a children's TV show to pick up more hours at the pharmacy.

As he is looking for Liberty, he encounters two Lakehurst students named Johnny DiMarco and Drake Lempkey vandalizing his car.

After he jokes about them thinking his car "sucks", Drake stabs him to death as his back is turned.

Club noted that the character's death had such an impact that the show was "basically divided between pre- and post-J.T.