Funeral service held for Jarvis Montaque, 15
Posted February 28, 2013 8:55 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A funeral service was held Thursday afternoon for 15-year-old Jarvis Montaque, Toronto’s eighth homicide victim this year.
The boy was shot to death on the night of Feb. 17 on Jamestown Crescent, near Finch Avenue and Martin Grove Road, in Rexdale. Police continue to search for the gunman.
The funeral, which began at 3:30 p.m. and ended shortly after 5:30 p.m., was held at the Abundant Life Assembly Church at 145 Dixon Rd., where family and friends were encouraged to wear white to symbolize Jarvis’s purity and innocence.
“We’re losing an angel,” said one of Jarvis’s 10 sisters, Tanasha Smith.
Another sister said during the service, “Anytime I got mad he always told me, “Don’t worry man. Everything will work out.’ I love my brother.”
Jarvis’s family is asking for donations to help send his body back to Jamaica for burial. A fundraiser will be held 7 p.m. on Friday at the Jamaican Canadian Association in Etobicoke.
His sister, Roshea Gunnis, said he came to Canada two years ago with the hopes of joining the Canadian Forces.
On Tuesday, sisters Smith and Gunnis spoke out at a Crime Stoppers news conference, urging the gunman to surrender to police and appealing to anyone in the Jamestown community to go to investigators with information.
“I just wanted to let everybody out there know that my brother was an amazing person,” Gunnis said. “He didn’t deserve to be taken away from us.”
Those wishing to help the family with burial costs can donate to:
TD Canada Trust
Transit # 02622
Branch # 004
Account # 78766661997
