The latest theory in a troubling double murder that claimed the lives of two young men is mistaken identity.
"It doesn't make sense otherwise," Susan Martin outlined at a press conference Wednesday, her voice breaking with the strain of the effort.
It's been more than three months since 25-year-old friends
Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin were shot to death while sitting in a parked SUV downtown, for a reason that to this day remains unclear.
"Like, these boys, I know it was probably in people's minds, they must have been doing something. They must have been up to something, but no...they weren't involved in anything. They didn't hang out with anybody who was in any way involved in anything," Karen Ellis revealed.
With no arrest in the tragic and terrifying case, police have offered a cash reward in the hopes that someone might come forward with information on the shooter.
"I guess it's no surprise that the Toronto Police Service is going to offer a $50,000 reward for information with regard to this particular homicide," Det Sgt Gary Giroux said at the same press conference.
That particular homicide occurred the night of June 13. Ellis and Martin were sitting in their Range Rover near Niagara and Richmond Sts. Both men had their seatbelts on. They had retuned to a friend's condo where they'd been earlier in the night watching Game 4 of the NBA Finals on TV.
Before they could get out of the car, a suspect approached. He pulled out a gun and opened fire. Both men died. A terrified witness, sitting in the back seat, possibly unseen, survived.
"The motive with regard to the shooting remains unclear to us," Giroux added.
"I'd like to refocus the investigation to the possibility of a case of mistaken identity," as there are many large black vehicles that frequent the area.
He pointed to the possibility of a road rage incident or some other type of dispute that may have occurred that day.
"In the event that there was a similar-looking vehicle who had a dispute in the evening...if they would call us with regards to some kind of exchange or dispute that they had in a similar vehicle in that particular area," Giroux asked.
Both Martin's mother Susan and Ellis' mother Karen spoke Wednesday.
"Sorry about the voice," Ellis began. "Thank you all for coming," she added, before pausing for several moments.
"We have had an overwhelming amount of support and love from the people of Toronto, and it has helped us more than we can ever express to you. Letters and cards still arrive, some from people who don't know us," she continued.
"It could have been anyone's sons or daughters," Ellis outlined.
"I want the killer who did this, and anyone with information, to know that if he had reached out to Dylan and Oliver with a hand, instead of a gun, they would have been the first to offer theirs back."
Then Martin's mother spoke.
"My life ended with Oliver's," she said through tears.
"His sisters who loved him dearly will never be the same. His stepfather and father and the rest of our large loving family have lost their innocence.
"Please if you have any information help us find this murderer," she pleaded.
At the press conference, a reporter asked how Martin and Ellis allow their other kids to go out at night.
"How does anyone let their children go out now," Ellis responded.
"I mean, if you have kids, when they go out that front door, is it not in the back of your mind?...They are like everybody else's kids. The possibility is there, but you can't stop living," she finished.
But there is one thing they would like to change.
"We've got to change the concept that a gun is a good thing to have," Martin stressed.
"Premier [Dalton] McGuinty and Mayor [David] Miller are pressing [Conservative leader Stephen Harper to ban handguns. Harper is not even listening. Banning handguns will not bring back Oliver and Dylan, or stop all the violence, but it commits all of us to a culture with no tolerance for any guns at all."
Investigators believe the suspect fled on a bicycle. He's described as:
- Male,
- Black,
- Light complexion,
- Light coloured shirt,
- Dark coloured pants.
The victims' mothers made a
desperate appeal for information in the case back in June.
Police initially believed the shooting was the result of a botched carjacking. But they're also looking at the possibility that the perpetrator was somehow offended by the victims' well-to-do status.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call the Homicide Squad at
416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers at
416-222-TIPS (8477).
After A Senseless Murder, Two Mothers Speak Out
Other High Profile Cases Offering $50,000 Rewards
Watch YouTube video of police appeal for information (June)
Watch YouTube video of police appeal for information (September 24)
Watch YouTube video of Oliver Martin's mother