Detectives say man killed in police shooting responsible for woman’s murder

The man York Regional police allegedly shot to death in Richmond Hill on Friday was responsible for the murder of a mother in a laneway near Dufferin Mall, police said at a news conference Monday.

The woman has been identified as Andrene Graham, 40, of Toronto.

Police say she had previously been involved in a three-year relationship with Paul Black, 41, that ended in July 2011.

“Paul Black was charged with domestic-related criminal offences in which Andrene Graham was the complainant and those charges were before the courts,” Det. Scott Purches said.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit is probing Black’s death Friday in Richmond Hill.

He was shot on Palmer Avenue, a residential street near Major MacKenzie Drive East and Bayview Avenue.

There was “an interaction between police and Black,” and a short time later he was shot in the head, the SIU said.

Graham was found bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head in a laneway behind Chesley Drive near Dufferin Mall.  She later died in hospital.

Police say Black met with Graham on Friday, but they aren’t sure what precipitated the meeting.

“It’s unclear who initiated that meeting,” Purches added. “The two of them ended up at the rear of that address on Chesley Drive at approximately 6:30 p.m. It was there that Paul Black shot Andrene Graham, causing her death,” he said.

“He fled the scene and was not located until his contact with York Regional Police.”

Police say no other suspects are being sought in Graham’s death.

“She was well established in the neighbourhood, well respected, very religious,” Purches said of Graham. “She had a number of children. A very successful and well-liked person.”