The mother of a 33-year-old man who was gunned down in the parking lot of a Rexdale plaza nearly two months ago choked back tears as she made a plea for information in his senseless murder on Wednesday morning.
Andre Phoenix, 33, was gunned down in the parking lot of a plaza near John Garland Boulevard and Martin Grove Road on the night of Aug. 15.
At the time, police said that Phoenix was walking to get pizza in the plaza when he was shot.
“It has been almost two months and we have no answers. We are grieving every minute, every second, every day and no answers. We need closure. We need closure for my son,” his mother Novelette Phoenix said at a press conference at police headquarters on Wednesday. “I am here right now pleading and begging. Please if there is anyone out there that saw something, that knows something, please call the police or Crimestoppers. I need justice for my son. He did not deserve what happened to him.”
Novelette Phoenix said that she received a call from her son shortly after 11 p.m. on Aug. 15 informing her that he had been shot. She said that she rushed to hospital but was unable to see him. Instead, she said that she received the “worst news” that she could ever get, confirmation that her “son and best friend” was dead.
“Andre was 33 years old. He had the love of basketball, he was hard working and anyone who knows my son knows that he is a family man,” she said. “Andre also loved kids but his pride and joy was his nearly two-year-old daughter that he left behind who will now never know who her daddy is.”
Police release footage of suspect vehicle
Police have not said anything about possible suspects in the homicide but on Wednesday they did release surveillance camera footage of a vehicle that they say was “directly involved” in the shooting.
The 46-second clip shows the white, newer model, four-door Mazda 3 circling the parking lot that Phoenix was walking through. The video then shows the vehicle pulling up alongside Phoenix before fleeing the scene in a westbound direction.
“Toronto police investigators are seeking the assistance of the public in identifying this vehicle, which is believed to be directly involved in this homicide,” Det. Brandon Price told reporters.
