Two found guilty in Regent Park youth worker murder: 'Sent that boy straight to Jesus'
The pair were also convicted of two counts of attempted murder in the 2021 gunplay
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Two gunmen who shot a Regent Park youth worker 14 times have been convicted of first-degree murder.
Noah Anderson, 23, and Junior Jahmal Harvey, 23, were among the four masked men who opened fire in a Regent Park parking lot on Sept. 18, 2021.
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Thane Murray, 27, was killed in the wild gunplay while two of his friends were injured.
One of the key pieces of evidence was a rap song the Crown played for the jury that detectives found on Anderson’s phone, recorded 10 days after the shooting.
Prosecutors argued that the Anderson and Harvey duet described the murder. The rap — entitled Peppered — features boasting by the pair calling themselves the “RP (Regent Park) killas.”
Another lyric about a headshot proclaimed that it “sent that boy straight to Jesus.”
The Toronto jury reached its verdict Saturday night after a day and a half of deliberation. Both triggermen were also found guilty of two counts of attempted murder.
For their violent, cold-blooded actions, the duo will receive automatic life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years.
According to cops, the quarter fired 59 bullets using handguns on the night of the murder. Murray died at the scene after being hit 14 times. One of the bullets hit Murray in the head.
His two friends survived the carnage, but one of them remained in a coma for several weeks.
Prosecutors said that the murder scheme was rooted in neighbourhood rivalries. But identifying the shooters was the crucial task for the Crown.
They built a case using mostly circumstantial evidence, including surveillance video that tracked Anderson, Harvey and two other shooters driving to and from Regent Park in downtown Toronto in a Nissan Altima rented under Anderson’s name.
Video captured the quartet walking to a car parked on McGill St. after they had left the Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard St. E., where Anderson had rented a room.
According to CBC News, footage also captured the quartet returning in the same car and then parking on the same street 30 minutes after the shooting. They then reentered the hotel.
In addition, the video footage revealed that the killers changed clothes and shoes before and after the murder.
A third suspect, Jabreel Elmi, was arrested by the Saskatoon Police Service in January.
Elmi, now 30, had been on Canada’s most-wanted list for his alleged involvement in the Regent Park shooting.
At one point, he made it to No. 24 on the BOLO (be on the lookout) most-wanted list of Canadian fugitives.
None of the charges have been proven against him in court.
Rajahden Angus Campbell, of Toronto, is still wanted on a nationwide warrant for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the murder of Murray.
If you have any information regarding this case, contact Toronto Police Homicide at 416-808-7400, or at homicide@torontopolice.on.ca. Or Crime Stoppers at 416−222−TIPS (8477); or via the internet at 222tips.com.
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