SLAIN TEEN MOURNED
Friends say 18-year-old, found dead in her apartment Friday, wanted to be a cop,
Family and friends of an 18-year-old woman found dead in her Scarborough apartment building say they are shocked by her sudden death and mourning the loss of a “fun, happy” girl with a bright future.
Simone “Shanni” Reid, a young Centennial College student originally from Jamaica, was found dead Friday afternoon inside an apartment complex at 3275 Sheppard Ave., near Warden Ave. and Highway 401.
On Sunday, Toronto police detectives ruled the teenager’s death was a homicide. An autopsy was performed but police have not yet released the cause of death.
Investigators are now looking for Reid’s father, Winston “Paul” Reid, 49, so that they can notify him of her death. Detectives believe he was one of the last people with her in the apartment Thursday night. As of Monday, he was still missing.
Toronto police have not yet released any information on possible suspects in Reid’s death.
Reid was found unconscious and not breathing at 1:15 p.m. Friday. Police were alerted to her disappearance after the teenager failed to attend school Friday.
A spokesperson for Centennial College confirmed Reid was a student at the school. Friends and Reid’s sister said she wanted to study criminology and become a police detective.
“She was a very fun person, a people person,” said Nicola, Reid’s sister, who asked to be identified by her first name only when reached by phone in Jamaica Monday.
“I saw it on Facebook and I was wondering if it’s real. Then I saw the news, and I thought, ‘Seriously? Is this really happening, my baby sister?’ ”
Reid’s mother, who lives in Jamaica, is “not doing so great at all,” Nicola said, adding Reid has numerous brothers and sisters.
Reid grew up in Clarendon, Jamaica. She would have turned 19 next week, according to friends.
“She was always happy regardless of what was happening around her. She would always listen to your problems,” said Kedisha Smith, a longtime friend, when reached in Jamaica.
“Simone ‘Shanni’ Reid was a friend, sister, daughter, cousin, supporter and confidant for many. She was a beautiful, intelligent, kind, young woman who had great passion and desire to be successful. Unfortunately, her time with us was cut short in an untimely, tragic and unexpected death,” reads a message on a GoFundMe account set up to help Reid’s family.
The investigation is ongoing.