A Toronto mother whose eight-year-old son was killed by a stray bullet over the weekend says he had the “best spirit” despite experiencing trauma at a young age.
Before Holly Roy lost her son, Jahvai, to gun violence, two of her other children were touched by it as well.
Roy told CBC Toronto her oldest, a son, survived a shooting in 2019 and her second child, a daughter, was bullied and threatened with gun violence in 2022.
While younger than the other two, Jahvai wanted to take care of his siblings, said Roy, remembering him as a loving boy.
“He witnessed so much trauma in his little life and still had the best spirit and was so kind,” said Roy, who works as a case manager for ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency, which aims to provide Indigenous young people with skills and opportunities.
“That’s what makes this so hard. He was so gentle and caring with me. He just wanted to make things easier because he knew we had it rough.”
Roy said the pain is raw as she heads to northern Ontario to bury her son.
According to Marcell Wilson, a family friend, Jahvai was excited before the shooting about a birthday party of a friend that was coming up. Wilson is also founder of the One by One Movement, a think tank that aims to reduce gun violence.
Wilson told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Monday that Jahvai and his mother were laying down, getting ready to go to sleep, when they hear shots outside. The shots scared them and Jahvai sat up and was hit by a bullet, Wilson said.
Roy described the incident in North York in a post on Facebook on Sunday.
“We were in bed!! He was laying beside me and then we heard the shots! 2 shots… it took a minute to know that’s not fireworks. My baby sat up. The last look he gave me was fear! Then another 3 shots and I felt glass hit my face. I went to grab my son to put him on the floor and he was lifeless! It was instant.”
Toronto police have said Jahvai died in hospital on Saturday after he was hit by a stray bullet in an apartment building in the area of Martha Eaton Way and Trethewey Drive, near Black Creek Drive.
Officers responded to the call at about 12:30 a.m. The suspects fled the scene before officers arrived, police said. Jahvai was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He is the city’s 26th homicide victim of the year.
Det.-Sgt. Jason Davis, a member of the police’s homicide and missing persons unit, told reporters on Saturday that the shooting happened outside the building. Two other apartment units were struck by gunfire, but no one else was injured.
Police have not said how many shooters there were, who the shooters were aiming at, or whether the shooting was targeted or not.
“What happened here is a cowardly, disgusting act of violence and every resource available in the city is being allocated to this right now,” Davis said.
Davis said police do not have a description of a suspect or a getaway vehicle, but said a group of people was standing in a playground near the building at the time of the shooting. Police are appealing for people who were in the playground to come forward. Police have spoken to a few witnesses already, he said.
Coun. Frances Nunziata, who represents Ward 5, York South-Weston, said she felt sick when she was told about the shooting.
“I was shocked, and I mean, just sick to my stomach,” Nunziata said.
“There’s too many guns on the street. We have young kids that are walking around with guns, just in the community, in the parks, on the street … I’ve never seen it so bad. We have more guns on the street than we’ve ever had before.”
She said she plans to organize a community meeting soon about gun violence in the area.
According to Nunziata, the shooters were on the sidewalk and they started shooting toward the building. She said the bullets hit the building and went through the window.
A community vigil is planned for Thursday outside the apartment building, 15 Martha Eaton Way, at 5 p.m. in honour of Jahvai.
