Community members call for justice in man’s fatal shooting

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This article was published 13/12/2021 (1369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Anthony Sinclair was supposed to come straight home after picking up a two-litre of Pepsi on Thursday. Instead, community members spent Sunday evening mourning the father and friend and calling for justice.

Jayme-Lea Sinclair, Anthony’s common-law partner, said he left for the corner store by bike at 7:11 p.m. Thursday. The couple had been together for six years and cared for five young boys, all under the age of 14.

Minutes after leaving home, Anthony Sinclair was shot near the intersection of Stella Avenue and McGregor Street. Police arrived around 7:15 p.m., and Anthony was transported to Health Sciences Centre in critical condition.

Sinclair said two detectives arrived at her home around midnight that night and broke the news of his death.

The shooting appears random, Anthony’s family and friends said. The Winnipeg Police Service has not announced any arrests.

“Of course I want justice for Tony, but still, at the end of the day, that doesn’t bring him back,” Sinclair said. “Every day, he taught me something new.”

He was an “awesome father” who consistently put family before himself and respected women, she said.

“He would make sacrifices for us,” she said. “If he had to go without a meal because sometimes… money was tight, he would go without a meal… to make sure that the kids and I ate.”

Sinclair started calling family that Thursday night, when it was clear Anthony, 35, wasn’t coming home.

“I was worried maybe it was a bike accident,” she said. “That was not like him, to not come back.”

Sinclair said she began calling hospitals at 10:30 p.m. She was on the phone with the missing persons unit when detectives knocked on her door.

She and the kids live just down the street from the scene. They’ll be moving to an Indigenous healing centre later this month, planned with the help of community members.

“(Violent people) don’t think about the children that are left behind,” Sinclair said, adding she feels lost without Anthony’s wise words.

Kyle Eisener became close with Anthony at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, and they remained best friends.

“You just never think that this would happen to… your brother that you grew up with,” Eisener said.

Anthony would stand up for Eisener in school and “wore his heart on his sleeve,” Eisener said.

“He was always a happy-go-lucky guy,” he said. “I don’t want him to be another statistic. It’s so wrong.”

He’s hoping Anthony’s killer is caught.

So is Stephanie Sinclair, Anthony’s cousin. Stephanie’s mom raised Anthony; the two were akin to siblings.

“He was my goofy little brother,” Stephanie said. “We want justice for my brother. We just want to know that the person isn’t out there anymore walking the streets, and able to do that to anybody else.”

Anthony wanted to enter school for welding. He has status with Berens River First Nation.

The gathering Sunday night was filled with drums and prayers at the corner of the incident. About 100 people were in attendance.

People with information about the case can call the WPS homicide unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com