WATCH ABOVE: The father of a man accused of killing 18-year-old Jeremy Cook in London, Ont. says his son, Muhab Sultanaly Sultan, is innocent. The Brampton teenager was allegedly shot following a dispute over a cellphone. Christina Stevens reports.
TORONTO — The father of Muhab Sultanaly Sultan, accused of killing 18-year-old Jeremy Cook over a cell phone, said his son would not have been capable of such a crime.
“A very, very big hearted person,” was how Sultan Sultan described 23-year-old Muhab.
Sultan said his son called him after the incident.
“Muhab tells me that ‘A stupid person shot somebody and dad I didn’t do that, you know me, I wouldn’t do that,'” said Sultan.
READ MORE: Body found in Rideau River identified as man wanted in London teen’s murder
London Police painted a very different picture of Muhab, issuing an arrest warrant on a second-degree murder charge.
On June 14, Cook was gunned down behind a London, Ont. strip mall after he allegedly used an app to track down his stolen cell phone.
Police said there was a confrontation between Cook and three men in a car. Cook then allegedly grabbed onto the vehicle as it pulled away and was fatally shot.
Sultan said in his last conversation with Muhab, his son told him that he was in the car, but wasn’t the killer.
“He was in shock when this happened,” said Sultan, adding Muhab didn’t know the man had a gun.
“Getting into his car, he is not going to search everybody if they have a gun or not.”
He said he also asked Muhab about the stolen phone, but Muhab responded that he wouldn’t tell him anything because he wasn’t a “rat.”
He said his son didn’t turn himself in due to previous dealings with police he felt were unfair.
Sultan said Muhab was a loving father and athlete who played basketball.
READ MORE: Police issue arrest warrant for Calgary man in slaying of Ontario teen
Cook was also an athlete. He was an avid hockey player and an honour roll student.
His family has yet to speak out, but a family friend who helped raise about $39,000 in Cook’s memory wrote comments on their GoFundMe page.
“It is agony for the family,” wrote Maureen Dilorio.
“The finality of it all, yet the uncertainly and openness surrounding his story are almost too much to take.”
Global News has been unable to confirm Sultan’s version of events with London Police.
“I feel the pain for them, I do, but I want them to know that my son had nothing to do with it, he was not the shooter,” said Sultan.
Police are still looking for a second suspect and a third man, who allegedly walked away from the car just before the shooting.
READ MORE: Teen fatally shot tracking lost cellphone remembered as ‘incredible kid’
Ottawa Police said last week that Sultan tried to run over two on-duty bicycle officers in downtown Ottawa, leaving one officer with minor injuries.
They said they gave chase in a squad car and ended up near the Rideau River, where they said two suspects jumped out and officers arrested one, but lost the other.
Several hours later police said they were called to the river’s edge, where witnesses reported a man was trying to swim across the river.
Police entered the river after the man was showing signs of distress, but as they approached the suspect he went under the water.
His body was recovered on Saturday and identified as Muhab on Tuesday.
Sultan wished he was the one who had died, rather than have to claim his son’s body.
“It’s the worst feeling I ever had my life,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dilorio wrote on the online fundraising page that Cook’s family members are “hanging on by the thinnest of threads.”
Comments