Jelani Grant
The latest murder victim in the city of Toronto has been identified as 17-year-old Saed Kaylie.
Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan of the Toronto Police told reporters Wednesday night that surveillance cameras recorded two men chasing Kaylie and another unidentified man over a fence and around the building at 551 The West Mall where Kaylie was fatally stabbed.
Ryan told CP24 that “there’s always a case of provocation…Did the stabber do it…perhaps to save his own life?”
“It appears on the video that two males are in pursuit of the other two males,” Ryan told CTV News.
None of the suspects has yet to be identified but Ryan said the investigation is still at an early stage.
“There’s always a case of provocation…Did the stabber do it…perhaps to save his own life” – Toronto police Det.-Sgt. Steve Ryan
The vicitm’s family spoke to CBC about the loss.
“We lost a great kid,” Kaylie’s aunt Ubah Quaylie told CBC News.
“This is really sad.”
Compared to January 2015’s four homicides, there were nine last month.
February, meanwhile, has already had two killings in its first week.
For all of 2015 Toronto recorded 56 total murders. And for the three years before that, 57 homicides were recorded in Toronto.
The city hasn’t seen a lower homicide rate since 2011, when there were only 51 killings.
The latest murders come ahead of a busy month of events in the city, including the NBA All-Star game next weekend, which the city is hosting for the first time.