Young Ohsweken father shot dead
Six Nations Police are investigating the death of a 27-year-old Ohsweken father and artist who was shot in the head.
Dustin Wayne Monture who lived on 2nd Line was declared brain dead at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday at Hamilton General Hospital. He died later that day at 11:05 p.m.
“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare,” said his mom, Roxanne Farmer. “I stayed with him to the end.”
Monture was originally thought to have been assaulted when friends found him on the lawn of their Tuscarora Road home and brought him to West Haldimand General Hospital in Hagersville with head injuries, at 4 p.m. Tuesday. It wasn’t until he was taken by air ambulance to Hamilton General Hospital and received a CT scan about 7 p.m. that it was discovered he’d been shot.
“I’d like people to remember how he made everyone laugh,” said his mom. “He was a jokester.”
Monture was trying to turn a life of crime and drugs around for his three children aged eight, two, and one.
“His kids were his world,” said Farmer. “All he wanted was his kids.”
An athlete who played hockey, lacrosse and baseball, Monture became hooked on Oxy-Contin when he was prescribed the opioid pain medication after losing his front teeth in a hockey game.
“I believe he could have made it in hockey or lacrosse,” said his mom. But the drugs “had control of him.”
It led to a string of convictions culminating in a four-and-a-half year prison sentence in 2011 for selling guns after breaking into a home in Delhi with a group of men.
“He finished high school,” during his sentence said his mom. “He took whatever (programs) they offered him.”
He ran into trouble with the law involving guns again in 2015 during a domestic dispute.
But his mom says at heart he was an artist. He would draw aboriginal scenes, make headdresses and design tattoos.
“I don’t’ know where he came up with his ideas,” said Farmer. “He did my first tattoo.”
It was a bunch of feathers — one for each of her three girls and one for Monture. One feather was broken off from the bunch to represent Farmer’s son who died at the age of 16.
Monture enjoyed the outdoors particularly fishing and hunting. He tapped trees for maple syrup at his childhood home. He also did construction work on and off.
“He was caring,” said Farmer. “He’d give you the shirt off his back. He’d help you anyway he possibly could.”
Police have not yet been able to determine where the shooting occurred. The family says it feels like they’re being left in the dark.
“We’re hearing so many stories,” said Farmer. “It’s like the community is trying to solve this puzzle ourselves.”
Anyone with information can call police at 519-445-2811 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222TIPS (8477) or www.crimestoppers-brant.ca.