Funeral planned for 'gentle giant'
A male in his late teens was shot to death Friday on Eastdale Avenue in East York, police confirmed with CityNews.
The teen was found in an apartment complex stairwell on the second floor at 90 Eastdale Ave., with a single gun shot wound to the chest.
Police believe he's 18 or 19 years old.
"We are very early in the investigation but I can tell you that we have identified the deceased and his family has been notified," said Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux.
The teen was pronounced dead at the scene. There's no word on suspects.
"It's not normal in this neighbourhood to happen, this type of violence, everyone knows each other, we're like a community here," said one area resident.
Police are canvassing the complex and looking over surveillance video.
The teen was found in an apartment complex stairwell on the second floor at 90 Eastdale Ave., with a single gun shot wound to the chest.
Police believe he's 18 or 19 years old.
"We are very early in the investigation but I can tell you that we have identified the deceased and his family has been notified," said Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux.
The teen was pronounced dead at the scene. There's no word on suspects.
"It's not normal in this neighbourhood to happen, this type of violence, everyone knows each other, we're like a community here," said one area resident.
Police are canvassing the complex and looking over surveillance video.
Slain 20 year old's cousin also a murder victim
By Jenny Yuen
And on Saturday, Ellis heard the news that 20-year-old Rookwood was shot to death at another nearby townhouse complex on Tobermory Dr., near Finch Ave. W.
“I don’t know why he was there,” Ellis, 50, said. “He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s so hard. I love him so much.”
Police arrived at a townhouse complex at 32 Torbermory Dr. around 2 a.m. and found the 20-year-old with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene and “suffered significant injuries,” said Staff Sgt. Frank Barredo.
Another man later showed up at Humber Regional Hospital with a gun shot wound to the leg.
“He was unco-operative, but we believe the incidents to be connected,” Barredo said.
Rookwood had a hard life with an absent father out of the picture, Ellis said. His mother Estella, 50, remains in Jamaica. She sent him to Canada for a better life. He never hung around gangs or got involved with drugs.
Rookwood just turned 20 on Sept.19.
“Whoever has these guns, I want them to get rid of these people,” she said.
No word yet on funeral arrangements, but the family is organizing a trust fund in Rookwood’s name.
Several males may have been involved and as many as 10 shots may have been fired, Barredo said.
At the other end of the city, Toronto Police are continuing to piece together why a 19-year-old was shot in a stairwell of an east-end apartment high-rise.
Officers continued to combed 90 Eastdale Ave. in the Main St.-Danforth Ave. area Saturday after Bradley Matheson, 19, was found shot in the chest Friday afternoon in the north stairwell between the fifth and sixth floors. He died at the scene.
“At this point, he isn’t somebody who is known to us, other than contact cards,” said homicide Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux. “We’re turning to those two highrise buildings because they’re connected to determine what was going on. There’s video that we’re pouring over and there’s a canvass as well.”
Another victim for Thanksgiving murder list
By Chris Doucette
Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, who organized Sunday’s remembrance, pointed out the city’s latest murder occurred at the same housing complex where one of the seven Thanksgiving victims was also slain.
“Seeing this happen on Oct. 9th once again in the same area where 20-year-old Kareme Parks was killed exactly 5 years ago, especially after a vigil for all the Oct 9th victims, greatly saddens me,” she said Monday.
“Lawmakers and community need to get involved now with the police and what I am doing.”
Omololu-Olunloyo, who dedicates much of her free time to fighting gun violence in Toronto, said Parks’ mother attended her Sunday afternoon event in Regent Park and then held another vigil for her son just a few hours before the city’s 37th homicide of the year.
Officers responding to a call for the “sound of gunshots” found a young man suffering from gunshot wounds to his chest.
The victim, whose name was not immediately released, was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said.
Homicide detectives are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination.
Few other details were available.
For now, the slaying is unsolved, just like the other seven Thanksgiving murders.
Unsolved Thanksgiving murders:
- Kareme Parks, 20, killed Oct. 9 2006
- Keegan Allen, 18, killed Oct. 9, 2007
- Rachel Alleyne, 30, killed Oct. 9, 2007
- Burrell Bennett, 26, killed Oct. 9 2008
- Christian Derro, 19, killed Oct. 10, 2009
- Jermaine Derby, 19, killed Oct. 9, 2010
- Sealand White, 15, killed Oct. 9, 2010
- Man, 26, killed Oct. 9, 2011
Funeral for teen slain in Downsview apartment
By Chris Doucette
TORONTO - Khalfani Haughton was a talented young man with a promising future, those who knew and loved him say. The 18-year-old, better known as Jordan to his friends and family, hoped to pursue a music career but that dream ended senselessly when he was stabbed to death at a Downsview apartment building a little over a week ago. “I have to pray that God will help me to forgive the person that took my son’s life...forgiveness is key,” Fitzgerald “Mike” Haughton said Saturday at Jordan’s funeral. The grief-stricken father was among about 200 mourners who gathered at the Peace Community Church, near Weston Rd. and St. Clair Ave. W., to say their final goodbyes to the teen. “Jordan had a calm spirit, a gentle spirit...,” Haughton said, adding his son also had a big heart and “zeal to succeed.” The teen, who worked at a grocery store, was stabbed to death Aug. 10 at 1130 Wilson Ave., near Keele St. Toronto Police have said Jordan was involved in an altercation with a man in an apartment. The Rexdale youth stumbled out of the apartment with multiple stab wounds and collapsed in the hall. Few other details have been released. However, it’s believed the apartment was the home of a woman who occasionally babysat one of Jordan’s younger siblings. The man he allegedly argued with is the woman’s husband. Exactly what sparked the deadly argument remains a mystery. But Derrick Oram, 37, faces a charge of second-degree murder and remains in custody. Saturday’s two-hour funeral service was filled with tributes from those closest to Jordan, including best friend Matthew Russell. “Jordan was more than a friend to me,” the teen said. “We were the best of friends.” He and Jordan were in a hip-hop group together called CheckMate. Russell said his pal was the kind of friend others wish they had. “Jordan changed my life by introducing me to music and to writing,” he said, before playing a song he wrote for his slain friend. Joseph Johnson said he couldn’t have asked for any more from a big brother. He was “always there” for me and my other siblings, he said, adding he admired his brother and wanted to be just like him. “Jordan, I love you, I miss you, but I shall never forget you,” Johnson said.
Shooting victim identified
The Canadian Press
Jordan Telfer, 21, was found early Saturday morning in a first-floor hallway at Bergamot Avenue near Islington Avenue and Rexdale Boulevard. (Toronto Police)
Police have identified a man shot dead in a northwest Toronto apartment building this weekend.
Jordan Telfer, 21, was found after midnight on Saturday morning in a first-floor hallway at Bergamot Avenue near Islington Avenue and Rexdale Boulevard.
He was pronounced dead in hospital. A post-mortem was scheduled for Sunday.
Man fatally stabbed in neck wanted custody of girl, court told
The mother, dabbing away tears, also described a profanity-laced exchange between her son Ludlow Jermaine Gillespie and Melissa Lewis two months before Lewis allegedly stabbed him in the neck while he was driving.
Lewis, 25, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for the May 29, 2010, death of 25-year-old Gillespie. Their six-year-old daughter was in the backseat of the car with her mother while Lewis’ father, David Winn, sat in the front passenger seat.
“Gillespie and Lewis were shouting mean and horrible words while Winn, texting in the front passenger seat,” tried to defuse the volatile situation as the child cried, Crown attorney Louise Collins said.
Lewis reached into her purse, pulled out a kitchen knife and plunged it into Gillespie’s neck, Collins said.
He screamed, “She stabbed me!” while his daughter wailed, court heard. The Neon mounted the curb on Windermere Ave. and the slightly built Gillespie staggered out of the car, gasping “Why?” before collapsing on the ground and bleeding to death.
In her opening to the jury, Collins described Gillespie as a “great father” who wanted to obtain custody of his daughter — whose name is covered by a publication ban — from Lewis.
Gillespie was committed to his daughter but he didn’t want a relationship with the “possessive” Lewis, court heard. He was already dating another woman and had another daughter by another woman.
His mother testified that her son asked Lewis for custody but was rejected. She said he was concerned that his daughter wasn’t enrolled in school.
Marjorie Gillespie recalled a volatile verbal battle between her son and Lewis that prompted a 911 call in the early months of 2010. When Toronto Police showed up, the pair had already bolted, court heard.
Gillespie, who had a few brushes with the law, had been a shooting victim in April 2009 and spent six weeks in hospital and several months convalescing at his mother’s home, court heard.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Slain man shielded children from gunfire: family
Jermaine Smith is pictured in this undated photo provided by Toronto police. Smith, 28, was fatally shot at a community barbecue Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011.
Toronto police read out a statement written by Jermaine Smith's family saying that the man's last act was a selfless one, as he pushed young kids out of the way to protect them before and during a hail of gunfire.
"It is our understanding that as Jermaine's life was being brutally ripped from him he was seen in the midst of the chaos shielding children," the statement said. "To us, the members of his family, this is proof of his character as a man and a father."
Smith was the father of a two-and-a-half-month-old son.
The family said the most heartbreaking part about Smith's death is that he will never get to watch his infant son grow up and that his son will never get to know him.
"That's the sad part," said Enroy Tomlinson, Smith's older brother. "He loved kids. Everywhere he went he would play with all the kids. He was a very good dad."
Police appeal for witnesses
Tomlinson spoke to reporters at the news conference after police released the family's statement and renewed their appeal for witnesses to the unsolved slaying.
Police said Smith was fatally shot as he stood next to his car in the parking lot of a townhouse complex at 4020 Dundas St. W., where people were gathered for a back-to-school barbecue Saturday night.
Shortly before 10 p.m., a male approached Smith, pulled out a handgun and fired several shots that struck him in the neck and head, said homicide Det. Sgt. Wayne Banks.
Smith died at the scene.
The shooting occurred steps away from a playground that was filled with children and just metres from the barbecue, which was attended by up to 150 people, Banks said.
Many children under 14 witnessed the killing and gave statements to police about what they saw, Banks said.
Motive not known
Police still don't know the motive for the shooting. Banks said Smith wasn't involved in a confrontation at the barbecue prior to the shooting, and there is no evidence he was involved in any gang activity.
The gunman fled and hasn't been arrested. Police are still speaking to witnesses to come up with a detailed description of a male suspect.
"The streets of Toronto will not be safe until (the suspect or suspects) are in police custody," Smith's family said in the statement. "Please help us bring justice for this horrible and cowardly crime."
Police are seeking tips from the public to try to identify the shooter. They're also asking any barbecue attendees who haven't spoken to investigators to call them.
Banks said potential witnesses fled before police arrived at the scene.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Toronto police homicide squad at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
"All they have to do is come forward," Tomlinson said. "A lot of people are afraid … but they should try their best to come forward and give whatever information they have to help out."
Family calls for end to gun violence
In addition to the appeal for information, Smith's family called for an end to the gun violence that has claimed the lives of many young men and women in Toronto over the past several years.
"It is a pain that no one should experience. The violence must end now," the family said.
