Mom decries lack of details after son’s death
SIU investigating shooting involving Toronto police in Roncesvalles last Sunday
The mother of the man fatally shot during an incident involving Toronto police in Roncesvalles on Sunday is trying to understand how and why her son, a father of two young children, died on the sidewalk that morning.
Speaking to the Star on the phone from her home in Kentville, N.S., Sherry Middleton, mother of 30year-old Jenyon Middleton, said that when she called police after hearing about the incident, they wouldn’t tell her anything.
“Nobody would give me . . . answers,” she said. “They wouldn’t even confirm it was my son.”
Jenyon was fatally shot in an incident involving Toronto police around 6 a.m. Sunday after officers responded to a call about a possible shooting near a non-profit co-op home at 55 Howard Park Ave. A 25year-old woman was also taken to hospital with serious injuries, including a gunshot wound to the leg.
Middleton, who’s “never ever known (Jenyon) to be involved in guns,” said she heard about what happened after a nephew in Toronto called her saying he saw Jenyon’s building on the news. She tried to call Jenyon and his girlfriend but no one picked up.
The Special Investigations Unit, a provincial agency that investigates incidents involving police and civilians where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault, has taken over the investigation.
The SIU does not provide details or updates during active investigations, but a police source with knowledge of the case said the death was a suicide.
Sharon Sliwinski, a resident of 29 Howard Park Ave., said she was woken up around 5:30 a.m. Sunday by the sound of arguing outside.
“I thought it was a bunch of drunk kids or something like that, but then I heard more serious language . . . It sounded like the police were negotiating with (the victim) at that point,” Sliwinski told the Star.
Upon looking out her window a few minutes later, she saw a man lying on the sidewalk between her home and the neighbouring one. She said she went outside and saw a police officer with a pistol in his hand, shaking.
According to Sliwinski, she asked him what happened and the officer responded, “A man just shot himself in the head beside your house.”
The neighbourhood is generally peaceful, Sliwinksi added.
“It’s the kind of place people want to raise their kids . . . I haven’t seen or heard of anything happening like this.”
Jenyon himself was a father to two young children, a boy and a girl, Middleton said. She last spoke with him on the phone Friday night.
“(Jenyon) just said he was watching TV with my grandson, he’s three . . . (My grandson) came on the phone and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I’m watching TV with dad.’”
This is the second son Middleton has lost to a gun.
On Oct. 23, 2015, Durham police found the body of Jenyon’s brother, 25-year-old Claren Troy Middleton, in a field in Pickering. Claren, also a father, was shot to death and his torched car was later found by the waterfront in Oshawa.
In March, Durham police arrested Terrance Bent and charged him with accessory after the fact to murder, arson and indignity to a body. No one else has been charged in the case.
For Middleton, there’s no closure with either death.
“For all this time, with Claren . . . and now they’re both gone,” Middleton said. “Oh, God. I don’t know. I just can’t. I need to know what happened to (Jenyon) . . . It’s just friggin’ killing me.” With files from Jake Kivanc