'LEFT TO DIE': Graphic video released of hit-run that killed 16-year-old
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Investigators have released graphic video of an SUV running down a 16-year-old from behind and leaving him to die in the street last month in East York.
Toronto Police Homicide investigators believe the deadly hit-and-run unfolded after the victim and his friend — a 14-year-old boy — became embroiled in a dispute with two men in a vehicle that was parked behind a Shoppers Drug Mart at Woodbine Ave. and O’Connor Dr. shortly before 2 a.m. on Oct. 7.
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The victim, Matthew Dreaver, and his pal walked away from the area only to be confronted again by the occupants of the SUV in a nearby residential neighbourhood, Det. Leslie Dunkley said at a news conference following the city’s 55th murder of the year.
WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
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The two friends then ran for their lives towards East York Memorial Arena as they were chased by the vehicle, but only one of the boys escaped death.
The video released by cops Thursday shows the SUV moments after it mounted the curb on Cedarvale Ave. — just south of Bracebridge Ave. — and sped across the boulevard on the northeast corner of the arena’s entrance where it struck Dreaver from behind.
In the disturbing footage, the victim is seen being dragged beneath the vehicle and tumbling out from under the rear of the SUV as it drives over the sidewalk, jumps the curb again and heads east into the arena’s driveway.
Dreaver’s friend narrowly avoids being run down.
Then, after checking on his motionless pal, he is forced to lunge out of the way again after the SUV turns around and drives back towards the pair, narrowly missing them as it flees the scene.
Police said the friend stayed with Dreaver until emergency crews arrived.
“He witnessed his friend dying on the ground,” Dunkley said at the time.
A GoFundMe account — set up by the victim’s grandparent to help his mother, Kelly, and sister, Danielle — describes the teen as “a kind, beautiful young man of indigenous ancestry with dreams and ambitions like any other.”
“He died a horrible death, the victim of a premeditated homicide,” the GoFundMe states. “Matthew was targeted and run over from behind and left to die on the street like a dog while his killers calmly drove away.
“Matthew never had a chance,” the GoFundMe adds.
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Investigators have now determined the SUV — believed to be a 2007-12 Hyundai Santa Fe, dark blue or black, that may have sustained front-end damage — fled west on Bracebridge Ave., headed north on Woodbine Ave., then drove east on O’Connor Dr. before continuing east on St. Clair Ave. E.
No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information regarding this murder, including workers at body shops who may have seen a vehicle matching the description, are aksed to call the Homicide Unit at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
On Twitter: @SunDoucette
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