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(Toronto Star/Files) – Mohamed Loyan’s Father and a relative mourning the loss – Aug 12, 2005 |
No arrest yet in double murder
Family says hard to get on with life
Family says hard to get on with life
Aug. 9, 2006. 06:16 AM
The double slaying one year ago happened as the daily headlines were screaming about Toronto’s unprecedented surge in gun violence, an alarming trend in sharp contrast to this year’s calmer, more peaceful summer — so far.
But for a Toronto-area family the pain still sears — particularly because the killer of Mahumud Ali, 19, and Mohammed Loyan Ahmed, 23, has not been arrested for gunning down the friends who had been out celebrating at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sherbourne St.
“I remember when it first happened, it was a shock to us all, very traumatized, you couldn’t sleep,” Ali’s sister, 18-year-old Amran, said yesterday, surrounded by family members in federal NDP leader Jack Layton’s constituency office on Danforth Ave.
“Every day’s a reminder … it’s hard to proceed with your life when there’s no closure,” she said. “I feel like if the killers were brought to justice I could have some closure in my life and try to progress.”
Sitting beside her was her mother, Zulekha Hussein, whose composure gave way to silent tears before she was comforted by another daughter, Deqa, 6.
“These days everything gets to her,” Amran continued. “Emotionally she’s not there, she’s crying a lot. She’s always remembering him. It’s really hard for her every single day.”
The family moved to Canada from Somalia in 1988. Ali had graduated from high school and was planning to pursue a business administration degree in British Columbia last fall. He had moved to the west coast in 2004 but returned to Toronto last August to serve as best man in a friend’s wedding.
“He was a real generous person, always willing to help people, giving me advice when I needed it, a real inspiration to us, you know, he’s just like a big light in our lives, the one who helped the family stick together, in tough times he was always there,” said Amran.
Her older sister Hibo, 19, didn’t attend the news conference, nor did their father, Mahumud Ali, who is too distraught to face the media spotlight.
The family is still at a loss to understand why a man pulled out a handgun and, without warning, fired at the group of six or seven young men around 3:58 a.m. on the northwest corner of Maitland Place and Homewood Ave. after they left the Phoenix.
Police have described it as an unprovoked attack and friends who were with the victims during the evening have said they knew of nothing that could have precipitated it.
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Amran says quietly.
Layton contacted the family last summer after hearing about the homicides.
“They’ve really struggled … so we opened up some line of communication, stayed in touch, met a couple of times here, talked about the idea of a trust fund to help them out.”
Maybe in the intervening year “someone has said something to someone else that might lead us to capturing these killers,” Layton continued. “Maybe someone’s conscience might be touched hearing directly from the family, imagining themselves in that situation in their own family, maybe that will bring something forward.”
Layton said he has “full confidence” that police are doing “what needs to be done here,” but he would like them to consider offering a reward.
“It’s ultimately their judgment as to whether or not they see that that would help and if it isn’t something that would help then we trust them to make those kind of judgments but we think it might be time.”
The homicide detectives in the case couldn’t be reached for comment.
Ali died from a gunshot wound to the head. A bullet struck Ahmed in the chest. More than 1,500 people attended an Etobicoke mosque to mourn the loss of the two men, who were highly regarded in the Somali community.
A Brampton man was shot outside the Phoenix a week later, prompting the club’s owner to pull the plug on a regular Sunday night rap and hip-hop event that ran for 14 years.
Donations to the Mahumud Ali family trust can be made to Alterna Savings and Credit Union. at 1577 Danforth Ave. Transit # 04392-828
But for a Toronto-area family the pain still sears — particularly because the killer of Mahumud Ali, 19, and Mohammed Loyan Ahmed, 23, has not been arrested for gunning down the friends who had been out celebrating at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sherbourne St.
“Every day’s a reminder … it’s hard to proceed with your life when there’s no closure,” she said. “I feel like if the killers were brought to justice I could have some closure in my life and try to progress.”
Sitting beside her was her mother, Zulekha Hussein, whose composure gave way to silent tears before she was comforted by another daughter, Deqa, 6.
“These days everything gets to her,” Amran continued. “Emotionally she’s not there, she’s crying a lot. She’s always remembering him. It’s really hard for her every single day.”
The family moved to Canada from Somalia in 1988. Ali had graduated from high school and was planning to pursue a business administration degree in British Columbia last fall. He had moved to the west coast in 2004 but returned to Toronto last August to serve as best man in a friend’s wedding.
“He was a real generous person, always willing to help people, giving me advice when I needed it, a real inspiration to us, you know, he’s just like a big light in our lives, the one who helped the family stick together, in tough times he was always there,” said Amran.
Her older sister Hibo, 19, didn’t attend the news conference, nor did their father, Mahumud Ali, who is too distraught to face the media spotlight.
The family is still at a loss to understand why a man pulled out a handgun and, without warning, fired at the group of six or seven young men around 3:58 a.m. on the northwest corner of Maitland Place and Homewood Ave. after they left the Phoenix.
Police have described it as an unprovoked attack and friends who were with the victims during the evening have said they knew of nothing that could have precipitated it.
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Amran says quietly.
Layton contacted the family last summer after hearing about the homicides.
“They’ve really struggled … so we opened up some line of communication, stayed in touch, met a couple of times here, talked about the idea of a trust fund to help them out.”
Maybe in the intervening year “someone has said something to someone else that might lead us to capturing these killers,” Layton continued. “Maybe someone’s conscience might be touched hearing directly from the family, imagining themselves in that situation in their own family, maybe that will bring something forward.”
Layton said he has “full confidence” that police are doing “what needs to be done here,” but he would like them to consider offering a reward.
“It’s ultimately their judgment as to whether or not they see that that would help and if it isn’t something that would help then we trust them to make those kind of judgments but we think it might be time.”
The homicide detectives in the case couldn’t be reached for comment.
Ali died from a gunshot wound to the head. A bullet struck Ahmed in the chest. More than 1,500 people attended an Etobicoke mosque to mourn the loss of the two men, who were highly regarded in the Somali community.
A Brampton man was shot outside the Phoenix a week later, prompting the club’s owner to pull the plug on a regular Sunday night rap and hip-hop event that ran for 14 years.
Donations to the Mahumud Ali family trust can be made to Alterna Savings and Credit Union. at 1577 Danforth Ave. Transit # 04392-828
Source: Toronto Star, Aug 9, 2006
