Kyle Weese, a man wanted for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of a young woman in Leslieville Saturday, appeared briefly court this morning after turning himself in last night.
Dressed in an orange prison jump suit, he met eyes with his family members who sat in the court gallery. He was remanded until Nov. 7.
His lawyer, Jacqueline An, said Mr. Weese, 24, contacted her office on Monday and came to see her yesterday.
"I didn't have to convince him. He voluntarily wanted to surrender himself."
Mr. Weese walked into 55 Division last night, ending a three-day manhunt for him, following a shooting outside the Duke of York tavern in Leslieville.
"Trial by media!" A family member yelled as she left the court house.
His mother, Sherry, called a legal talk show on Monday saying that there was no proof that her son was the gunman who fatally shot 23-year-old Bailey Zaveda and wounded four others on Saturday.
Mr. Weese has been charged with four counts of attempted murder and one count of second degree murder.
Ms. Zaveda stepped out of the Duke of York tavern at Queen and Leslie streets after midnight Saturday when she was struck by a bullet.
The murder caused concern in a city that has seen innocent bystanders killed by gun violence, more frequently.
"People in this city have every right… to walk about the community and conduct themselves lawfully. Bailey Zaveda was doing just that. She was out for an evening with drinks and she's not coming home and I have to take her family across the street and identify her in a body bag. As a result of that, I think it's a good day for the city to have a violent person like [Mr. Weese] in custody," Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux said at a news conference last night.
Police focused their hunt for suspected killer Kyle Weese in the neighbourhood where he grew up.
Mr. Weese, 24, attended Duke of Connaught Junior and Senior Public School, less than a kilometre east from the Duke of York tavern at Queen and Leslie streets, the scene of the weekend shooting in which six people were injured, said a woman who grew up with him.
In his teenaged years, he was often in trouble, she said. “He doesn’t think about tomorrow. He lives in the moment.”
Police say he has an “extensive” criminal record. In 2002, he was convicted of possessing property obtained by crime. In 2006, he pled guilty to shooting a man in the arm on Sherbourne Street and served time in prison.
The woman who did not want to be identified, said the suspect’s mother has three other children, and tried her best to steer him in the right direction. “It’s not a parenting issue, it’s a peer issue.”
Many area residents and business owners on Tuesday maintained they still feel safe in the trendy, tight-knit Leslieville neighbourhood. All the while, some expressed nervousness with the gunman being at large.
“I’m double-checking my doors,” said Jennifer Campbell, the 31-year-old co-owner of The Purple Purl, a knitting shop on Queen Street. “I’m glad there is a police presence. I’m not saying it alleviates all fears.”
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