A reluctant key witness who allegedly saw the Boxing Day shootings that left a 15-year-old girl dead and six others wounded was released from prison Friday.

Richard Steele, who was serving an unrelated sentence relating to drugs and firearms, said he was relieved to be out of jail after he alleged being beaten on two separate occasions by guards while serving his time.

"They tried to kill me a couple of times, but I'm still here, I'm still living," Steele said.

Last month, Steele said that he has been beaten on two separate occasions by guards at the Metro West Detention Centre. He was transferred to another facility in Penetanguishene.

Prosecutors are forcing Steele to testify in their case relating to the Dec. 26, 2005 shootings. His lawyer has attempted to lift the court order, but a judge ruled it was Steele's moral and civic duty to testify.

"It's an unfortunate situation, because I had nothing to do with it," Steele said. "A lot of other people have testified they were there, and they're willing informants."

Jane Creba was killed when a fight between two groups of approximately 15 youths erupted into gunfire that caught shoppers crowding Toronto's busy Yonge Street shopping area.

Caught in the crossfire, Creba died on the scene -- making her the city's 52nd gunshot fatality that year. Six other people were injured, one of them critically.

Police have alleged Steele may have been the intended target in the shooting that took Creba's life.

Steele's mother Valarie, the former president of the Jamaican Canadian association, says the police targeted her son because of her community activism.

"I'm sure my son has paid for some of the activities I have done," she said.

Steele said the murder was getting a lot of attention because of the Creba's race.

"It seems to me that the death of a white girl is more important than the death of a black girl," Steele said.

He said that he hasn't heard anything about the murder of Chantel Dunn, a 19-year-old who was shot earlier this year in Toronto's west end.

The York University student had just picked up her boyfriend, 21-year-old Shane Morrison, when at least two gunmen approached her car and opened fire.

Police say Morrison was the intended target. He survived after being shot twice. Her killer has never been found.

Steele has already testified four times in preliminary hearings. He'll be back on the stand next month.

The murder trial for the Boxing Day shooting is expected to begin next summer.

With a report from CTV's Desmond Brown