Family of homicide victim desperate for answers
Police so far saying little about slaying of young father of six
Keenan Scott Toto’s daughter Zulay holds a stuffed bear tight to her chest. It has Toto’s fingerprint on its foot, and a tag with his photo.
When she goes to sleep, she’ll tell the bear, “Goodnight daddy.”
“I want whoever did it to be caught,” Toto’s wife, Jacqueline Kequahtooway, said Thursday during an interview.
“And that’s still not going to ever bring closure, because my kids don’t have their dad. How do you sit comfortably knowing you took someone’s dad away?”
Toto, 23, was found dead on the 1200 block of Queen Street around 4 a.m. on Dec 1. The Regina Police Service (RPS) has ruled his death a homicide, the city’s ninth of 2019, but charges had yet to be laid as of early Thursday evening. Police have not officially said how Toto died; his family said he was shot.
Trenna Toto, Keenan’s mother, constantly wonders who is responsible and why they did it. She said police can’t tell the family anything right now, with the investigation ongoing. She prays that whoever took her son will be compelled by their conscience to come forward.
“It’s hard to sit here and think about the people that did this to him, and they’re out free,” said Trenna. “We lost our light in our life. I lost my baby. Who would do something so cruel to another person?”
Keenan was the father of six children, two of whom he had with Kequahtooway. Although usually the voice of discipline with their children, Keenan never had to yell. He liked fixing things and was good with his hands, building one of his son’s homemade Tech Deck ramps.
Kequahtooway said Keenan wanted to instil good values in their children, ensuring they went to school and had good sleep routines. For meal times, Keenan wanted the whole family to sit around the table.
He had a tradition with his twoyear-old daughter Xadia, touching fingers when her when he came home. The toddler still holds out her finger and says, “Daddy.”
As a couple, Keenan and Kequahtooway gave each other what they needed. Keenan never wanted to see Kequahtooway hurting. If she was upset, his presence alone was enough to calm her. If times were tough, he told her not to worry — that things would work out.
In turn, Kequahtooway supported Keenan through his struggles.
“He was not involved in gangs. He did struggle with (meth) addiction — and that’s where I just ultimately supported him,” she said, adding that he smoked marijuana to deal with his withdrawals.