Police have arrested four men and charged them with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Munawar Warsama — a young man being remembered by loved ones as someone who brightened every room and sought to better life for those around him.
On Thursday, police announced they had arrested four Toronto residents in relation to the homicide.
Duan Julien, 24, Deniell McKenzie, 21, Daniel Lara-Orellana, 25, and Matthew Phillips-Downey, 23, have all been charged with one count of second-degree murder, according to a release issued by the Toronto Police Service.
The charges have not been proved in court. Each of the accused appeared in court remotely on Thursday.
Warsama was gunned down April 14, in a Toronto alleyway behind Bloor Street West near Concord Avenue at about 10:45 p.m. When officers arrived, they located a man with multiple gunshot wounds in a laneway. Life-saving measures were performed, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
CTV News obtained surveillance footage from a neighbour in which the sound of up to 10 gunshots could be heard at the time of the incident.
‘A FUTURE TOGETHER’
Munir Warsama and his cousin Hashi Hashi are still coming to terms with the loss of Munawar.
"It's a huge shock," Warsama told CTV News Toronto. "Very unexpected."
Warsama said the day the 24-year-old Munawar was shot and killed, his brother had broken his Ramadan fast with his parents.
"Afterwards, at the night time, we hear that he got murdered," Warsama said. “It's just shocking.”
Warsama said Eid, which is supposed to be a celebratory holiday, was not that way for his family.
"On Eid day after prayers, we came to this area where Munawar was shot and we tried to remember him," he said. "He was the life of our household for sure."
Munawar's girlfriend, Ashaya was with him when he was shot.
"We had planned a future together, filled with love, laughter, and endless possibilities," she told CTV News. "But now, all those plans and dreams seem to have vanished into thin air.”
“I am struggling to come to terms with the fact that he is no longer with me and the pain of his loss is something that I cannot put into words,” she said.
Munawar’s family said the young man’s lifestyle was not one of crime.
"The assumption with incidents like this is it's sort of gang-related or drug-related," Munawar’s cousin Hashi said. "This was not this – absolutely not."
Warsama said his brother's name means light and it was something he embodied.
"Whenever he came in the room, he just brightened everybody's days," Warsama said. "He loved life and it's unfortunate that it was taken."
The family is raising money to build a water well in East Africa in his name, to leave a positive mark on the world.
"We are East African origin and we felt like this would be a good way of putting something in his name to," Hashi said.
"We've lost a person with a good heart. A person who wanted to do good, to be part of good, to better himself and better people around him," Warsama added.
