By Espe Currie
Toronto Police announced an arrest Thursday morning in the 2009 homicide of Christopher Skinner.
Agustin Alexander Caruso, now 23, has been charged with second-degree murder.
At a press conference at police headquarters, Det.-Sgt. Stacy Gallant outlined the case against Caruso.
“The murder weapon, a black 2004 Ford Explorer, has been seized,” Gallant said.
Caruso, 19 at the time, was not alone in the car, and Gallant said Toronto Police are still looking for the five passengers.
“I’m disappointed that the other people who were involved didn’t come forward sooner,” he said.
Gallant said the other passengers will be held to account, as they have not responded to any of the police department’s repeated calls for witnesses to step forward.
Skinner, 27, was on his way home from a family birthday party in Toronto’s Entertainment District.
He was assaulted after he unintentionally touched the Explorer while trying to hail a cab.
“He was standing in the roadway as traffic was still passing, and he was attempting to hail a cab,” Det.-Sgt. Stacy Gallant said in a press conference on the four-year anniversary of the incident Oct. 18.
“Some of the occupants of the vehicle confronted Christopher Skinner in front of their black SUV. He was assaulted, he was kicked and knocked to the ground,” Gallant said.
“As he lay on the ground, the occupants returned to the SUV and the driver, without hesitation, deliberately drove over Chris.”
He died of his injuries in the hospital.
Skinner’s family has been involved in the investigation, both offering a reward and maintaining the Twitter hashtag “#findchriskiller.”
His parents also spoke during Nov. 7’s press conference.
“This doesn’t do anything to bring Chris back, and it starts a whole new chapter of agony and pain that we have to go through,” Skinner’s mother said.
“There is a small sense of relief that he’s not on the streets anymore.”
A LinkedIn profile for someone with the same name — Agustin Alexander Caruso — also of Etobicoke, says he attended Humber College.