From shootings to stabbings to fatal assaults — 2018 was one of Windsor’s worst years in recent memory for deaths by criminal violence.
The victims have ranged in age from teenagers to the elderly. And at year’s end, the tally of slayings was at 10: nine homicide investigations, and one manslaughter case.
It’s the highest figure in this category that Windsor police have seen in at least 15 years. According to historical crime statistics on the Windsor police website, the most recent comparable year was 2003, when there were nine homicide victims — two of them children.
In 2017, the community dealt with three homicide cases and one other violent death.
From fall 2009 to late 2011, Windsor enjoyed a streak of almost 27 months of no homicide investigations — the city’s longest period without a murder since 1935.
Last year’s spike in killings kept the Windsor police Major Crimes Branch working overtime. Deputy Chief Brad Hill described the caseload as “an incredible drain on resources.”
But Hill praised the efforts of his officers. Of the following cases, only one resulted in no suspects arrested or identified.
Coroner Dr. Robert Drake, right, investigates as a Windsor police officer holds a white sheet where the body of a man was found on Valentine’s Day Feb. 14, 2018.
Windsor police use shovels and a metal detector in an alley near 900 block of Church Street after the body of a man was found Wednesday Feb. 14, 2018.
Feb. 14 — Windsor resident Chance Gauthier, 16, was found lying face down in an alley in the 900 block of Church Street, near the downtown core.
He’d been shot in the head.
Mal Chol, 20, of the Waterloo region, was arrested on Feb. 17 on charges of kidnapping, forcible confinement, and first-degree murder. Nouraldin Rabee, 19, remains wanted on the same charges.
Police believe Rabee has fled the jurisdiction.
A home at 3275 Bloomfield Rd. in Windsor’s west end where the body of an elderly man was discovered on Feb. 18, 2018.
Feb. 18 — Around 4 a.m., police responded to a report of an injured man in a home at 3275 Bloomfield Rd. in the city’s west end. There, officers found the body of 73-year-old Leonard Damm.
The case was categorized a homicide following autopsy results. Investigators identified Yusuf Ali, 19, as a suspect.
Police believe Ali has fled the country. He remains wanted on a charge of first-degree murder.
March 24 — Officers responded in the early morning hours to an altercation in the 1900 block of Daytona Road.
Police arrived to find Joe St. Louis, a district fire chief with the Lakeshore Fire Department, suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Five days later, St. Louis died in hospital. Michael Hiller, 43, of Windsor, who was arrested at the scene, was charged with assault and manslaughter.
June 10 — Autumn Taggart, a 31-year-old Windsor woman, was found dead in her bed in her apartment at 1382 University Ave. West.
She was discovered by her nine-year-old son, who contacted his father after trying to wake her.
Taggart’s body showed signs of sexual assault and strangulation. Police began an extensive investigation that eventually involved law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border: Windsor detectives identified a suspect who they believed had fled to the U.S.
The investigative work in the case included following the suspect undercover to obtain DNA evidence.
On Aug. 17, Jitesh Bhogal, 27, was arrested by U.S. authorities at his parent’s home in Washington state. He was transferred to Canadian authorities and brought back to Windsor on Sept. 8.
Bhogal has been charged with breaking and entering, aggravated sexual assault, and first-degree murder.
Windsor murder victim Autumn Taggart, also known as Maya Madolyn, in an undated image she used on social media.
June 20 — Around 10:20 a.m., police received a call from 38-year-old David Sura. Due to the content of that call, officers attended a home at 1497 Everts Ave. There, they found the body of a 66-year-old man with obvious signs of trauma.
Sura was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Police have disclosed that the dead man was the father of the accused.
Aug. 27 — Gunfire was heard in the downtown core around 2:40 a.m. Police responded to the intersection of Ouellette Avenue and University Avenue East and found a young man dying from multiple gunshot wounds. A young woman had also been non-fatally shot in the leg.
The deceased was Jason Michael Pantlitz-Solomon — a 20-year-old University of Windsor student originally from Mississauga.
Police have determined that two gunmen confronted and fired upon the victim in what has been described as a targeted killing. Investigators believe the incident has ties to the Greater Toronto Area.
The shooters remain at large. Windsor police are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the suspects.
Windsor police investigate the scene of an early morning shooting at the intersection of Ouellette and University on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018.
Sept. 8 — Around 1:30 a.m., police responded to a report of an injured person in a home at 327 Hall Ave. Officers arrived to find 18-year-old Darrion Moffatt with a life-threatening gunshot wound to the head.
There was no hope of recovery. Moffatt was taken off life support two days after he was found.
Cody Kennedy, 19, was arrested by police about 10 hours after the shooting. Raul Huezo, 18, was arrested about four days later. Both have been charged with first-degree murder.
A Windsor police vehicle at a home at 327 Hall Ave., where 18-year-old Darrion Moffatt was fatally shot on Sept. 8, 2018.
Sept. 29 — Around 4:10 a.m., police were called to 395 University Ave. East — a public housing apartment building. Inside one of the units was a deceased 37-year-old man with obvious signs of trauma. The death was ruled a homicide.
The first arrest in the case was that afternoon: Lamar Day, 28, was located on Goyeau Street.
The second arrest happened later that night: Raheem Washington, 25, was found on Wyandotte Street East.
Both accused face charges of first-degree murder and forcible confinement.
Oct. 1 — Shortly after midnight, around 12:30 a.m., police were called about a seriously injured person at the Ivy Rose Motor Inn, 2885 Howard Ave.
One of the motel’s buildings has two floors of rooms. A 36-year-old man had gone over the railing of the second floor and suffered life-threatening injuries from the fall. He died in hospital the next day.
A 19-year-old male was arrested at the scene and subsequently charged with second-degree murder.
Nov. 1 — Police responded around 4:35 a.m. to a report of a stabbing at a home at 272-274 Giles Boulevard East. Officers arrived to find 25-year-old Jerson Calero suffering from a life-threatening stab wound.
The victim was taken to hospital, where he succumbed to his injury. At the same time, investigators spoke with witnesses and identified a suspect — The victim’s 19-year-old younger brother.
The younger brother was located at a residence on Church Street. Isaiah Calero has been charged with second-degree murder.
Police have said the victim and the accused were involved in an altercation that began as a family argument.
A Windsor police officer gathers a bloodied shoe from the 250 block of Giles Boulevard East on the morning of Nov. 1, 2018.
A Windsor police forensics officer collects a gold chain from the pavement of Giles Boulevard East during a homicide investigation Nov. 1, 2018.
Dec. 16 — Technically not a 2018 case, the death of 76-year-old Windsor resident Sara Anne Widholm on this date was the result of a grievous beating she suffered on the Ganatchio Trail on the morning of Oct. 8, 2017.
Widholm spent 14 months in hospital before she succumbed to her injuries. It has not been disclosed if she ever regained consciousness.
Police have described the attack on Widholm as “vicious” and “unprovoked.”
As a result of her death, the charge against Habibullah “Danny” Ahmadi, 22, has been upgraded to second-degree murder.
Editor’s Note: The above cases do not include the shooting death of Matthew Mahoney, 33, on the morning of March 21, in downtown Windsor.
Mahoney — a man with a history of mental illness — was fatally shot by Windsor police outside the McDonald’s restaurant at Goyeau Street and Wyandotte Street East.
Mahoney was reportedly in a disturbed state and carrying knives. Two officers were injured before shots were fired.
The shooting is currently under review by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit.
