TORONTO -- Toronto police say they have arrested a male getaway driver in connection with three deadly shootings in the city, including one that resulted in the death of a 12-year-old boy.
Insp. Hank Idsinga provided an update on the three separate cases during a news conference on Tuesday, saying that police arrested a 27-year-old man in Halifax, N.S., on Thursday in connection with all three incidents.
In the latest incident, 12-year-old Dante Andreatta Marroquin, was struck by a bullet while walking with his mother along a North York sidewalk near a shooting that injured three other people. He was pronounced dead in hospital last week.
In the second latest incident, Hamid Zakarie, a 27-year-old man, was shot to death in broad daylight in front of his newborn in early October. In the third incident in May, 21-year-old Toronto rapper Dimarjio Jenkins, also known as Houdini, was the victim of a deadly shooting downtown.
Police say they arrested Cjay Hobbs after he got off a plane in Halifax on Nov. 12 and he returned to Toronto earlier today. He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday morning and faces three counts of first-degree murder.
“It is alleged he was the driver of the vehicles, which transported the shooters to and from the three scenes,” Idsinga told reporters Tuesday. “Members of the community were obviously shocked and outraged at not only the murder of Dante but of Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Zakarie.”
While two alleged shooters have been arrested and charged in the death of Andreatta Marroquin after a dramatic takedown outside a downtown Toronto Canadian Tire store, police said they are still investigating the identities of the shooters in the two other cases.
Idsinga said that tips from the public and the review of a significant amount of surveillance footage from the scene, significantly helped the quick arrests following the shooting of Andreatta Marroquin.
“We stood here in front of 31 division last week and said we were going to get everybody that was involved in the murder of that 12-year-old and I think we are at that point today,” Idsinga, the head of the homicide squad, said.
“It is a big deal. They are all charged with being a party to offence of murder. It is first-degree murder and, if convicted, it is mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.”
