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Toronto Plans Vigil and Rally as Police Seek Suspects in Killing of 8-Year-Old Jahvai Roy

Police have not released a suspect description, prompting a citywide push for prevention.

JahVai Roy, 8, was killed after he was struck by a stray bullet while sleeping in his family's North York apartment on Aug. 16, 2025.
JahVai posing for a photo on his first day of school, 2024. JahVai was sleeping by his mother’s side when he was shot by a stray bullet on Aug. 16 and killed instantly. He is being laid to rest Aug. 20 in his mother’s home of Wiikwemkoong.
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A Toronto police officer's uniform is seen during a press conference in Toronto on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Overview

  • Gunfire outside an apartment near Martha Eaton Way and Trethewey Drive around 12:30 a.m. Saturday sent bullets into multiple units, killing Jahvai Roy as he lay in bed, and investigators say they still have no suspect or vehicle description.
  • Toronto police appealed for witnesses, noting a group was in a nearby playground at the time, and asked anyone with information to contact homicide detectives or Crime Stoppers.
  • A community vigil is scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. outside 15 Martha Eaton Way, with attendees invited to wear blue, described as Jahvai’s favorite color.
  • An anti-gun-violence rally organized by the ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency is set for Friday, Aug. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nathan Phillips Square.
  • A GoFundMe for the family has raised more than $57,000 as of Tuesday, while leaders highlight Jahvai’s role with the One by One Movement’s youth council and renew calls to curb illegal guns and invest in prevention; police say his death is Toronto’s 26th homicide of 2025.