Toronto boy, 8, killed by stray bullet while sleeping in bed

Toronto police say an eight-year-old boy was fatally struck by a stray bullet while sleeping beside his mother early Saturday in what investigators called a “cowardly and disgusting act of violence.”

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Toronto police say an eight-year-old boy was fatally struck by a stray bullet while sleeping beside his mother early Saturday in what investigators called a “cowardly and disgusting act of violence.”

The child has been identified as Jahvai Roy.

According to police, gunfire broke out early Saturday morning near Martha Eaton Way and Trethewey Drive, with bullets striking multiple units in a nearby building.

They believe one of those stray bullets struck and killed Roy while he was sleeping.

The boy’s mother, Holly Roy, has not spoken publicly but described the shooting in a Facebook post.

She wrote that her son went to bed Friday night, brimming with excitement for his best friend’s birthday party. Moments later, she recalled, they heard gunshots.

“There was nothing I can do but scream and hold his lifeless little body,” she wrote.

A homicide detective said two other apartments in the building were also struck, though no one else was injured.

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw visited the scene Saturday, offering condolences to the family and urging anyone with information to come forward.

Demkiw told reporters that he informed the family that Toronto police are committed to apprehending the people behind the boy’s death.

“I am a parent. I’ve raised two children in our city, and I cannot imagine the sense of loss that the mother and family are feeling now,” the chief said.

Demkiw renewed his call for law reform on shootings in congregate settings and the need for these incidents to be treated “in the most significant and severe way available within the legal system.”

Speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also shared her thoughts on the tragic shooting.

She called the incident tragic, cruel, and horrendous.

Jahvai had been featured at age six in a video by the One by One Movement, where he encouraged children to “be nice” as part of an anti-bullying campaign.

The Toronto Police Association, which was highly vocal during the last federal election campaign on an urgent need for bail and other criminal justice reforms, also released a statement:

“Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the eight-year-old boy tragically killed in North York early Saturday morning. This is an unimaginable loss,” the association said on X.

Although Toronto police have said shootings are down in 2025, the North York area, where the shooting occurred, has long struggled with gun violence.

Last September, another minor—15-year-old Mario Giddings—was shot and killed outside a pizza shop in the same neighbourhood.

As of the time of this article’s publication, police have released no further updates on Giddings’ case, nor have they offered any details on potential suspects in the Roy case.