Two Indigenous men killed in Toronto

Toronto’s Indigenous community is mourning the loss of two young men who were killed in two separate incidents within the space of two weeks. Quinn Taylor was 29, and Kiowa Wind McComb was 20 years old.

Taylor was shot to death in Toronto’s Chinatown on Spadina near Nassau Street early on the morning of Jan. 31. McComb (Ojibway/Cree) was the victim of a stabbing on Feb. 9 in Toronto’s Jane and Lawrence area.†

Taylor’s mother Brenda MacIntyre (Ojibway/Odawa), a well-known traditional singer in Toronto, learned of her son’s death on social media.

“He had a three-year-old daughter and he was at the happiest point in his life. Incredibly happy,” said MacIntyre. A rapper and producer, Taylor was just starting his music career, she said.

Her son first displayed his incredible musical gift when he was just three years old, MacIntyre said. They were in a studio and “he stepped up to a drum kit, having never seen one in his life, and started drumming. Everybody turned around to see who was creating all these interesting beats. Everyone’s jaws dropped.”

A few years ago, Taylor decided to return to school to study audio engineering, a huge step for him, his mother said, because he hated school. He applied to the Trebas Institute, got himself a student loan and surprised his teachers with his talents.

“He had a very good musical ear, a hard thing to come by,” MacIntyre said. “He was shy about performing himself, but he wanted to produce other artists.”

Her son’s life was not without its struggles, she said, but in the past five years he was determined to focus on his passion for music.

“Music and hanging out with his little girl, that was his bliss.”

“There’s no way to make sense of this,” she said, “because he had no enemies. Everybody loved him.” A celebration of Quinn’s life that was held at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto was attended by about 250 people and featured musical tributes, both traditional and contemporary.

If there is any lesson to be learned from this tragedy, said MacIntyre, it’s to realize that we don’t know how much time we have here.

“So, don’t wait. Go for your dreams,” she said, “and get back to who you really are.”

On Feb. 12, Toronto Police arrested a 25-year-old suspect in connection with Taylor’s death and that of a friend who was with Taylor that night. The suspect has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

A memorial for McComb was co-hosted on Feb. 12 by the Native Women’s Resource Centre and the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) where Kiowa had worked for the last year as an intern in the Learning Department. The theatre at ROM was packed with family, friends and his ROM colleagues.

Kiowa was a bright light, a success story, said J’net Ayayqwayaksheelth, Aboriginal Outreach and Learning Coordinator at ROM. She hired McComb for the internship position because he knew who he was and was very proud of his ancestry, and “we needed somebody who was willing to step up in front of a group and own their identity,” she said.

He and his girlfriend, Lauren LaVallee, became part of her family. His keen interest in education inspired her to return to school, said Ayayqwayaksheelth.

Kiowa was not devastated by life and the challenges he’d faced, Ayayqwayaksheelth said. “The boy had goals and he chipped away at them. He wanted to live a good life and he was doing what he could to make that happen.”

Kiowa made great inroads building bridges and relationships between the ROM and the Indigenous community, said Dr. Mark Engstrom, who spoke at the memorial. Engstrom is the CEO and director of ROM. “He served as a role model to the members of our staff and the outside community and he was really liked in the institution,” said Engstrom.

The manager of Learning at ROM, Wendy Ng, said, “Everyone that Kiowa touched will have had their lives enriched by him.”

He was pivotal in establishing and nurturing the ROM Youth Cabinet, a group creating museum content for youth by youth. That’s a legacy that Kiowa has left to ROM, said Ng.

In remembrance of Kiowa, Ng announced that ROM has created the Kiowa Wind McComb Internship.

“It will help Indigenous young people work with our Learning Department to continue his work,” said Ng.

Police arrested a 35-year-old suspect shortly after the stabbing of McComb, and charging him with second degree murder. A second suspect has not been apprehended.