Cops Offer $50,000 Reward For Information On Murder Of Kamal Hercules

A grieving mother issued a tearful plea and cops offered a $50,000 reward in the hopes of generating the leads needed to track down the man who killed Kamal Hercules last September.

Ann Singh stood at the scene of the crime Thursday and pleaded for the public’s help in finding the gunman who took the life of her only child.

“I am Kamal Hercules’ mother and this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I know it is also the most important,” she said Thursday, flanked by family members.

“I am here today to ask for anyone with information regarding this senseless crime to step forward and bring Kamal’s murderer to justice.”

Hercules was hanging out with a friend when a gunman approached from behind and fired several rounds outside the Rabba grocery store at Front Street East and Sherbourne around 3:45am on Sept. 5, 2009. Hercules was just shy of his 22nd birthday.

While witnesses have come forward to help sketch out Hercules’ movements the night of his murder, investigators are still missing vital pieces of information that could lead them to the killer. Authorities are hoping the reward announced Thursday will turn up some new leads as to why the young man, so popular in the Esplanade neighbourhood he grew up in, became a target for murder.

“We have yet to find anything that Kamal Hercules may have done that evening or [in] the early morning hours that would have contributed [to] or explained his murder,” Det. Sgt. Peter Moreira said, adding the victim had no criminal record.

Moreira said officers are canvassing the tight-knit neighbourhood.

“Somebody out there knows,” he said.

“The investigative team is quite confident that the details surrounding the identities of the persons responsible lie within this community.”

Singh described her son as a talented basketball player and musician and said his death has not only had a profound effect on her family, but on the community as well.

“When a young man like Kamal loses his life through gun violence and senseless crime our whole community suffers,” she said.

“We all need to accept some responsibility for the safety of our community.”

Messages and tributes to Hercules have been scrawled on the walls at the scene of the crime.

As she wiped away tears, Singh described how her son would often bring his friends back to her home and that her living room often resembled a “neighbourhood community centre.”

“Kamal was not just my only child, he was my best friend,” she said.

“My family will never be the same.”

If you have any information on Hercules’ murder call the Homicide Squad at (416) 808-7400 or Crime Stoppers at (416) 222-TIPS.

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