Unsolved murder of 9-year-old boy continues to haunt his family 7 years later

Nine-year-old Kesean Williams was killed in a senseless shooting in Brampton seven years ago. The search for his killer continues. On the anniversary of his death, his mother and brother tell Ginella Massa what they want from police and the public.

By Ginella Massa and Meredith Bond

Kajan Williams was just 15-years-old when he witnessed his 9-year-old brother, Kesean, get shot in the head as they played video games in their Brampton home.

“He was playing Call of Duty. I thought he was electrocuted. He fell face first. I didn’t really know what happened. I just heard a shot. I just heard a pop. I didn’t think like ‘my brother got shot,'” said Kajan.

“It hurts like yesterday,” Kesean’s mother Tanya Gravey said with tears in her eyes as Kajan recalled what happened on the night of Jan. 2013.

“I picked him up. I held him and I realized he wasn’t breathing, wasn’t moving and my hands got wet,” said Kajan. “I realized there [was] brains and blood in my hands, my brother is dying right there in my arms, it was so unexpected.”

Seven years later on the anniversary of Kesean’s death, Kajan and Tanya are still tormented by unanswered questions about who killed the innocent young boy and are making a plea to the public and to Peel police to finally bring his killer to justice.

“He was sweet, loving, kind and compassionate. He deserved more than to get shot in the head and no justice served for him,” said Gravey. “Kesean cared about everyone. He was incredible, gifted, kind, gentle. He didn’t look at your exterior, he looked at your inside and that’s what made him special.”

Kajan is also speaking publicly for the first time about how Peel police initially treated him as a suspect.

He was taken to the police station instead of being allowed to go see his brother in hospital before he died.

“I just started going crazy in the car. ‘I want to go to my brother. My brother is dying,'” said Kajan. He said police told him if he didn’t stop, he would be put in handcuffs.

“They basically interrogated me like I had something to do with it. It was a pretty traumatic experience,” added Kajan.

“If the fact that he was at home, that would be standard practice to speak to everyone at the home,” said Peel police Const. Bancroft Wright.

When asked whether it would have been more appropriate to question Kajan in hospital, Const. Wright said, “It wouldn’t be a proper setting.”

Gravey said she last spoke to police four years ago and has become frustrated over a lack of communication.

“They’ve had so many detectives in the last seven years. Everytime I call it’s someone different. The ones that cared and had compassion, some have quit the force, walked away completely,” said Gravey.

“In any organization you have turnover,” said Const. Wright. “The information is being passed over, those officers would be briefed in the case and it’s not uncommon for that to happen.”

He added the turnover does not hinder a case.

“If I was to take over that case, I would be briefed on the primary officer that’s in charge of that case, so I would pretty much know everything the previous officer knew.”

Peel police believe Kesean and his brother were not the intended victims, but it’s possible their home was targeted.

The family had moved from Hamilton just five days before the shooting.

Three years later, police confirmed a gun used in a Toronto murder that same year was the weapon used to kill Kesean, but that revelation never led to any charges or arrests in either case.

The investigation into Kesean’s death is still open, according to police.

“I can understand the frustration. Every time you lose a loved one, especially Kesean being nine, there’s going to be frustration there,” said Const. Wright. “We are trying to gather as much information from the public and through our resources to solve that crime.”

Gravey said she offered to add thousands of dollars to a reward from Peel police that she had received from victim’s compensation, but she was turned down. A reward of $25,000 for information leading to an arrest is still available.

“It’s not like my brother was a criminal. He was nine,” said Kajan. “Nobody cares. No one wants to say, ‘he didn’t deserve that. You and your mom didn’t deserve that.’ Me and my mom are expected to pick up the pieces and keep moving.”

The mother and son refused to return to their bloodstained and gun-riddled home, which they say had also been robbed in their absence.

Gravey said she was also unable to return to work as a personal support worker and the two stayed in a shelter, homeless for years, while on a waiting list for housing. They finally moved into a home three years ago where they currently reside.

Kajan adds he just started going to a therapist and says he’s just now realizing the impact seeing his brother shot had on him.

“I wished they would have cared more when this really happen. If I had the right care or the right people in my corner when this had happened, I could have taken all that pain and all this suffering and did something positive for my brother,” said Kajan

“I still cry every night because I can’t sleep with my brother. I cry in the morning. I wake up and can’t see my brother.”

“Since the day it happened, me and my mom haven’t had any safety. The reality of my world has changed and I can’t even sit in front of my window without feeling scared.”

He said if Kesean’s killer is found, it would give him peace of mind that they are not walking free.

Both Gravey and Kajan continue to plead for the public’s help for any new information that could lead to an arrest.

“No child on this earth that God created deserves to die with a bullet in their head,” said Gravey.

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