2 dead after violent New Year’s Eve in Toronto

Toronto police are investigating the city’s first murders of the year after a violent New Year’s Eve in the GTA.

Mike Pimentel, 24, and Jamahl Franklin, 20, were killed in separate incidents.

Pimentel got separated from friends after leaving a party at the banquet hall at Liberty Grand. He was later found suffering from stab wounds near East Liberty Street and Hanna Avenue around 3 a.m.

Pimentel died in hospital. Police told media on Monday that he was stabbed more than once, but a cause of death has yet to be determined.  A post-mortem exam is underway.

“They deserve to be in jail so they can’t do this to anybody else,” his grief-stricken mother, Gloria Luz, said. “He was a great son, and he didn’t deserve it.”

“He was a great guy, he was always cracking jokes, always smiling, just so funny and always on the go,” his girlfriend Jennifer Defraga added. “He was a hard working man and father, just an amazing person.”

Police say they are canvassing the area and asking local businesses for security video. They are also asking members of the public to come forward, saying there were up to 100 people in the area at the time of the attack.

“We are asking for anyone who saw any altercation in the area to come forward,” said Det. Sgt. Wayne Banks. “There were several reports of different fights and altercations and we are targeting ones that may…be in the vicinity of this homicide.”

Franklin, 20, was shot several times around 4:30 a.m. Sunday in Scarborough.

Emergency crews found him on Hupfield Trail near Neilson Road and Finch Avenue East and pronounced him dead at the scene. He may have been at a house party prior to his death.

“It sounds like it was just a regular party for New Year’s. I don’t know what transpired inside or even if the suspects were inside,” Det. Graham Gibson said.

“It’s sad. It’s very sad for everyone…it’s a bad start to the new year,” area resident Jasman Chakkal told CityNews.

Toronto police are looking for two suspects who were seen fleeing the area.

There were dozens of altercations that kept emergency crews busy all night long. There were at least 14 stabbing or shooting incidents, Toronto police said, and more than double the average amount of 911 calls for a Saturday night.

Around 3 a.m., a man was stabbed at a bar near Lakeshore Road East and Hurontario Street in Mississauga and taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

About the same time, crews responded to several stabbings and shootings in downtown Toronto.

Among them, a 20-year-old was stabbed in the buttocks near Richmond and John streets in Toronto’s Entertainment District.

Around 2 a.m., police received reports of shots fired at a club on Richmond, near Peter Street. Two people were taken to hospital and are in stable condition.

One of the victims was found inside the club, while the other was found in a nearby laneway.

A 25-year-old man was stabbed twice in the back near the Hockey Hall of Fame at Yonge and Front.

And just before midnight Saturday, a 33-year-old man was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital after he was attacked with a shard of glass near Yonge-Dundas Square. One man was arrested.

No one was hurt when shots were fired at Mississauga’s International Banquet Hall, near Highways 401 and 410, just after 3 a.m.