A 23-year-old Toronto father with a criminal past has had any chance of a future snuffed out by murder.
Sheldon Anthony Henry is Toronto's 40th homicide victim of 2009 -- and the second of the long weekend.
He had been part of the Canadian Training Institute's "Breaking the Cycle" program, an attempt to help youth to steer clear of crime by connecting them with criminals attempting to change their own lives. His own rap sheet includes weapons, drug and assault convictions, to name a few.
Toronto police canvassed a quiet North York neighbourhood Tuesday for witnesses after someone shot Henry dead outside a residential complex.
Police say they received a 911 call at around 8:45 p.m. on Monday reporting sounds of several gunshots fired outside Tree Sparrow Way, a townhouse complex in the Leslie Street and Finch Avenue area.
"I saw the person standing right there, and the next minute, he was dead -- just like that," area resident Franklyna Honny told reporters.
After a quick search of the street, police found a man suffering from at least three gunshot wounds. Henry was pronounced dead at the scene.
Someone had shot him in the chest and head, leaving two children without a dad.
"There had been some type of verbal altercation, immediately followed by gunshots," said Det. Sgt. Dan Neilsen of the Toronto Police homicide squad. "At this point, we don't know why the victim was there."
Police in 33 Division say there are no security cameras in the complex but that there are witnesses who are co-operating with police. A police command post has been set up at Leslie St. and Ravel Road.
Authorities say they have not recovered a weapon, nor do they have a description of possible suspects. About six young men where reported to be seen running from the scene.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin
