Just two days into the New Year, Toronto police are looking for suspects in two homicides that occurred in different parts of the city New Year's Day.
Police held a news conference Monday to appeal for tips in their investigation into the death of 24-year-old Mike Pimentel, a father and construction worker who was fatally stabbed in Liberty Village after leaving a New Year's party.
Pimentel's family members and girlfriend, who repeatedly broke down in tears and consoled each other at the news conference, pleaded with people to call police if they have information about the slaying or if they saw Pimentel before he died.
"Help us find that person out there," Pimentel's sister Carla told reporters. "He can hurt somebody else out there. Please, let's get him off the streets."
"If anyone has any information ... please come forward," Pimentel's brother Josh said. "Whoever did this is a coward."
Pimentel, the father of a five-year-old girl, suffered multiple stab wounds when he got into an altercation with at least one person near East Liberty Street and Hanna Avenue on Sunday at about 3 a.m., police said.
Stabbed after leaving nightclub: police
Homicide investigators are trying to identify the suspect or suspects, and determine the moments leading up to the stabbing, which occurred after Pimentel left a nightclub on the CNE grounds.
Police said Pimentel and some friends left the nightclub on foot, but he became separated from them as he stopped along the way to talk to other partygoers. At some point, Pimentel, who was alone, got into an altercation and was fatally stabbed.
Pimentel was rushed to St. Michael's Hospital, where he died hours later, becoming Toronto's second homicide victim of 2012 as the year got off to a violent start.
Pimentel's girlfriend, Jennifer Defraga, described him as a "great guy" who worked hard in his job as a construction worker, loved to work out, cracked jokes and was always smiling.
Det. Sgt. Wayne Banks said there is no information to suggest Pimentel knew the suspect or suspects, but police haven't been able to confirm the motive or rule anything out.
Investigators believe up to 100 people were in the area at the time as people left New Year's parties and travelled through the neighbourhood.
Fatal shooting was first homicide of 2012
Toronto's first homicide of 2012 occurred Sunday at about 5 a.m., when 20-year-old Jamahl Franklin was fatally shot in a school yard on Hupfield Trail, near Finch Avenue East and Neilson Road, in Scarborough. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
No one has been arrested in either homicide.
Anyone with information in either case is asked to call homicide detectives at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
In addition to two homicides, police responded to about a dozen other stabbing or shooting incidents in Toronto on New Year's Day.
Much of the violence broke out as people partied or left celebrations in the early morning hours.
