Henry Stancu
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Video surveillance images at the Cougar Court highrise are still being processed, and homicide investigators hope soon to view the May 4 clips of people coming and leaving the highrise, near Markham Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E.
Last night they hoped "putting a human touch'' on interviews by involving those close to victim Mahamed Abdi Warsame might coax reluctant witnesses to come forward.
The youth's battered body was found in the ninth-floor stairwell.
A student at Winston Churchill Collegiate, the young victim didn't live in the building and it's not known why he was there.
Yesterday's building canvass by uniformed officers along with concerned Somalis was the second done this week.
The police asked the questions at doorways while the civilians stood ready to help with translations as needed. They were there mostly to show emotional commitment to solving a homicide that has brought grief to a community but is fading from the public eye.
Among those taking part was the victim's mother, Ayan Dahir, who broke down in tears as she tried to speak to reporters.
"It is very helpful ... if people heard anything," she said of the hunt for witnesses. "I am happy that my community are here."
"I believe somebody knows something, or saw something, or heard voices or screaming," added her friend Layla Hassan.
The slaying, Toronto's 17th of the year, came 10 days after Ricardo Erik Kelly, 22, was found stabbed to death in the same building.
Police say they do not know if the two murders are linked.
Source: Toronto Star, May 16, 2008