Slain teen was just visiting aunt when commotion broke out, cousin says
By ROB LAMBERTI, SUN MEDIA
The 16-year-old Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute student was stabbed to death early Sunday in the lobby of 340 Dixon Rd., a building where his aunt lived.
A bloody fight had erupted in a neighbouring building, at a 20th floor apartment of 330 Dixon Rd.
Yesterday, Toronto Police were probing a hallway and the stairwell on that floor for forensic evidence.
Blood marks were visible on the wall and the carpet, including a smudged handprint.
Area residents said the Somali immigrant was chased and stabbed in the lobby of his aunt's building.
His cousin Abshira Ibrahim, however, said Adam, who was visiting his aunt Dahabo Ali, noticed a commotion.
He went to investigate and was instead killed.
"He went downstairs to check it out, and he got killed," Ibrahim said.
"He was not involved" in the ruckus, she said.
Toronto homicide detectives said little about the city's 21st murder, except that two other stabbings are related.
Police said the fight spread across the complex, including the underground parking lot.
It apparently ended after Adam was stabbed.
Police also said there was a sound of gunshots call last Thursday, and arriving officers found a large number of casings.
While police don't know if that incident is related to the weekend murder, area residents are frustrated and scared.
"Too many young kids and they're out of control," said one condo resident.
She said she wasn't home when the violence erupted Sunday, but when she heard about the slaying, she wasn't surprised.
"We're very sad because he is innocent," said Adam's aunt Ali.
"He came to visit me."
There are numerous witnesses and the killer's identity is being protected by some, Ibrahim said.
"I want that guy to get caught," she said, urging witnesses to call police.
"There were many witnesses, neighbours, but no one is coming forward to tell the police who did it," Ibrahim said. "That's a big problem.
"It is frustrating. It's craziness because whoever killed a youth will kill another child."
"I want to tell them what happened to Ayoob is going to happen to their child, sooner or later," Ibrahim said. "It's going to happen to them because they're hiding him.
"Some people know (the killer's identity) but they don't want to talk to the police. That's the problem," she said.
It's not the first time such tragedy struck the family.
Among the mourners is Adam's cousin Ambra Egale, who lost a godson to gunfire in August, 2005.
Loyan Ahmed Gilao, 23, and friend Ali Mohamud Ali, 19, were killed on Homewood Ave. behind the Phoenix nightclub.
Those slayings remain unsolved.
"We come here to escape war, to be safe," Egale said. "Today, I feel unsafe."