Parents raise concerns about park parties after teen’s murder
Posted October 9, 2017 3:29 pm.
Last Updated October 9, 2017 6:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Friends are remembering a 15-year-old who was stabbed to death on Saturday night as an outgoing teen who enjoyed bodybuilding.
Isaiah Witt, a Grade 10 student at Wexford Collegiate, was at a park party when he was attacked.
Police were called to the playground area of Stan Wadlow Park near Cosburn and Woodbine avenues just before 9 p.m. Saturday.
They said a confrontation left two people with stab wounds; one was in critical condition when paramedics arrived.
But Louise, a parent of a 15-year-old, said it wasn’t a random, impromptu gathering but a planned “park party” organized through social media, specifically Snapchat and Instagram.
“Nothing but trouble,” she said at a memorial for Witt on Monday. “And they’re all supposed to bring drugs and alcohol to this thing. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.
“My son wanted to go and I said no. His friends came by to pick him up and I shut it down. He sulked in his room for a few hours and then the news broke about what happened and he was like, ‘Thank you so much mom. Thank you so much for not letting me go.’”
Lucy, whose daughter attended the memorial but not the party, said this isn’t the first time violence has broken out at these gatherings.
“My kids know people who were kicked and beaten and had their phones stolen from other parties,” she said. “It’s been going on all summer.”
Police confirm they are aware of the parties, but Const. Craig Brister said he can’t confirm the situation at Stan Wadlow Park on Saturday night.
“There has to be police on bicycles or horses or something,” Lucy said. “Shut it down.”
There are currently about 650 bike patrol officers and Brister said they were working the weekend.
“One of the reasons we have bike patrols is to patrol places cars can’t go,” he said.
He couldn’t confirm if a patrol was in the neighbourhood Saturday night.
Another man had non-life-threatening injures and three people were arrested at the scene. Police have released no further details.
“No park is safe after dark,” Lucy said, shaking her head over the young life lost.
