Police yet to make an arrest in 2004 shooting homicide of 22-year-old father

By Fil Martino

This week on Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files, CityNews reporters Fil Martino and Madison Fitzpatrick take a look at the shooting death of 22-year-old Jayvien Piper

It has been nearly two decades since the father of one Piper was gunned down on his way home from an evening class in Scarborough on March 3, 2004, but Toronto Police have yet to make an arrest in this case.

Detective Steve Smith with the Cold Case Unit says this was no random shooting.

“A small, green Honda Civic pulled up close to where he was walking. A male passenger exited the vehicle, walked up to Mr. Piper who fled on foot,” says Detective Smith. “This person actually tracked him and followed him to the point where he ended up catching up to him in the area around Woodside Mall. At that time, he shot him a number of times. The green Honda Civic re-appeared. This person boarded the Civic again and they drove away.”

Investigators say they have been able to identify the vehicle involved and they believe they know who is responsible, but they don’t have enough evidence. This has been extremely frustrating for Jayvien’s mother Sandra Piper who wants to know why her son’s murder has yet to be solved.

“I asked them and they said because they did not know who the shooter was,” says Piper.

Detective Smith says the original investigating officers conducted a thorough probe into Jayvien’s death.

“Unfortunately, the difference between investigators knowing who committed a crime and being able to prosecute a crime in court is that they need definitive evidence to prove these persons are the murderers, ” says Detective Smith.

He adds, “It was an awful case. It was terrible. The fact that they chased him down in order to basically execute him. It’s ridiculous that these things occur in our city. It is something that we as a group would like to solve. I mean, the community itself as well as the officers. This is a murder that we’d really like to solve.”

Sandra Piper wants justice for her son. She says, “I want to know who did this and I want to know exactly why.”

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