Homicide victim Tyler Morin remembered as artistic, loyal to family and friends
Family members and friends have identified the victim of Saskatoon’s fifth homicide of 2017 as 30-yearold Tyler Morin.
Morin was shot in the abdomen in the 200 block of Avenue V South around 6 a.m. on Nov. 4 and died Nov. 11 in hospital.
On Tuesday, police announced an autopsy had been completed and the major crimes section is investigating the death.
Stan Tu’Inukuafe, who knew Morin for about nine years from working with him through Str8Up, a support organization for people trying to leave gang life, said he considered Morin a friend and has been in contact with his mother and his girlfriend.
“Tyler is an individual that was loyal to his family,” he said.
“He didn’t have lots of friends, but the friends that he did have, he was faithful and loyal to.
“People that knew him were close to him and if he became your friend, he was one of the friends you’d have for life.”
Tu’Inukuafe said Morin was a talented man with a knack for poetry, art and writing.
He said Morin participated in Con-Art in 2012, which featured artwork by prisoners at the Saskatoon provincial jail, and wrote poetry through a program called Inspired Minds.
“Tyler was really, really good with words,” he said. He recalled a moment when Morin met with famous First Nations playwright Tomson Highway to speak about the craft of writing.
Morin’s eagerness to share didn’t end with his artwork and writing, Tu’Inukuafe noted.
“Whatever he had left, he’d give it to you,” he said. “He’d go out of his way to help people.”
Morin’s family is currently in the process of organizing funeral arrangements. Some relatives are travelling to Saskatoon from out of town to support his mother through the loss.
In a news release, city police have said Morin and the shooting suspect are known to each other, but the suspect has not been identified.
Police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards said no charges had been laid as of Wednesday and the investigation is ongoing.
Calvin Landry, who identified himself as Morin’s cousin, said in social media messages that Morin was taken too soon and he hopes justice is served. He said he remembers his cousin as a “loving person with a big heart.”
“I do hope the cops put that person away for what he did, because it was wrong of him to take Tyler’s life at a young age. Thirty is still young. He still had a long life to live, but that person took it away from him. So those cops better do their jobs ... and do what they gotta do.
“If he walks, who knows, he could do it to another person and then it will be on their hands. Not anybody else’s,” he added.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Saskatoon police at 306-975-8300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-2228477.