A key piece of evidence found at a 2007 Scarborough murder scene has finally proved to be instrumental in naming a suspect wanted in connection with the slaying of 16-year-old Keyon Campbell.
Campbell went outside to warm up his mother’s car so she could drive home his friends who had come over to play video games when he was gunned down on the doorstep of an Empringham Dr. townhouse, near Morningside Dr. and Finch Ave. E., Dec. 2.
With car keys still clutched in his hand, the teen stumbled into the hallway after being struck by gunfire. His mother and an aunt attempted CPR until an ambulance arrived.
The gunman was believed to have fled the area on foot.
Following his death, Toronto’s 80th homicide that year, friends and relatives described Campbell as a bright student who was on the road to a successful future. He was well-mannered, serious about his studies, worked at a fast-food restaurant and loved to play basketball and video games with his friends.
“Keyon had no criminal record,” said Det. Hank Idsinga, of the homicide squad.
“He was attending school and living with his mother. Three and a half years later and his friends have done well for themselves, so I would think he was headed down the same path.
Idsinga said a suspect was identified recently when an important piece of evidence came to light.
“This was always an active case and there was a particular piece of forensic evidence that took quite a long time for us to finally find a lab that could (deal with) it. We got the results back in January and re-interviewed some witnesses. It took a while, but it finally came together,” he said.
Idsinga would not be specific about the new evidence, but added: “We’ll have to wait to see what the jury believes.”
Pierre Oliver Ellis, 23, who has resided in the Malvern area of Scarborough, is wanted on a warrant for first-degree murder in connection with the slaying.
Police believe he is still in the Toronto area. They have had reports of Ellis being seen in Scarborough in the last two weeks.
Ellis is also wanted in connection with a series of violent armed home invasions, robberies and carjackings carried out by a group of people across Toronto last year.
Five men and two women have been arrested in connection with the attacks from January to June in 2009. Holdup squad detectives are also seeking Ellis as a suspect in those crimes.
He is described as being black, 5-foot-9, with medium-length black hair. He is considered to be armed and dangerous.
Homicide detectives are investigating a fatal shooting after a 25-year-old man was found dead inside the garage of home in Scarborough’s Dean Park neighbourhood early Friday morning.
Officers were called to a residence on Blacktoft Drive, located in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Meadowvale Road, at around 2 a.m. for reports of a shooting.
When they arrived, they located a man inside the garage suffering from serious injuries.
PHOTOS
Malcolm Ellis, 25, is seen in this undated photo provided by Toronto police. Ellis was found dead in the garage of a Scarborough home on Friday, Nov. 26. (Toronto Police Service)
A person is dead following a shooting in Scarborough's Dean Park neighbourhood on Friday.
The man was pronounced dead on the scene.
On Friday afternoon, police identified the victim as Toronto resident Malcolm Ellis.
Speaking to reporters outside the home where the shooting occurred, one officer confirmed that the victim did not live at the residence.
The firearm used in the deadly shooting has not been recovered.