Four years after a man was brutally beaten and run over on a downtown street, Toronto police are releasing new information in the hopes of finding those responsible.
“We need to hold them accountable,” Det. Sgt. Stacy Gallant told reporters at a news conference Friday afternoon standing alongside members of the young man’s family.
Christopher Skinner had been out celebrating his sister’s 19th birthday when he tried to hail a cab while walking along Adelaide Street East toward Victoria Street in the early hours of Oct. 18, 2009.
Investigators believe he inadvertently came in contact with a passing vehicle at the intersection, raising the ire of those inside. Police say the occupants of the black SUV got out and the 27-year-old was beaten, kicked and knocked to the ground.
Skinner was then intentionally run over after the vehicle’s occupants got back in the car, police said. The SUV then sped away.
The young man was rushed to hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
Despite help from witnesses at the scene and the announcement of a $50,000 police reward shortly after Skinner’s death, police have been unable to pin down the suspects.
Gallant said Friday police are now narrowing in on the vehicle that Skinner encountered.
“Recently we have made some significant progress in this investigation,” he said. “We have now identified the make, the model, the year range, the colour scheme of the SUV involved.”
Gallant declined to share the specific information about the vehicle, but he said police are now searching through databases to find people who owned such a vehicle in 2009.
Investigators are hoping the search will lead them to the driver of the vehicle, but they’re also focusing on anyone who helped the driver avoid detection over the past few years.
“This investigation is not stopping at the driver. Anyone who over the last four years assisted in any way the driver or those who participated in the beating to escape or remain undetected will be fully investigated and face criminal charges of accessory after the fact,” Gallant said.
Police are also releasing a new surveillance image that shows the vehicle travelling on Adelaide toward Yonge Street prior to the murder.
Gallant said it’s important to mark the anniversary of the crime publicly so people know the passage of time does not grant impunity to those responsible.
“I think it’s very important for the citizens of Toronto to know we don’t give up on these cases,” he said. “This impacts downtown Toronto, this impacts the entertainment district. We can’t have people thinking it’s ok to do what was done down there and that they’re going to get away with it.”
He said tips from various sources continue to come in to police after each public appeal.
He also said he hopes those who were in the SUV that night are listening.
“I’m hoping this is going out directly to the people who were in the car,” Gallant said. “It’s been four years. I still want to touch their hearts and come to them and say ‘listen, you were in that car that night; come forward now. It’s been four years. We’re still around and we’re still investigating it.’”
In addition to the police reward, Skinner’s family has separately raised a reward of about $100,000 for information that helps find those responsible for Skinner’s death.
According to the reward poster released by police, Skinner was survived by his family, as well as a fiancé.
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