Mother of Toronto boy killed by stray bullet urges vigil crowd not to forget her son

TORONTO – The mother of an eight-year-old Toronto boy killed by a stray bullet while he was in bed told a community vigil Thursday that she hopes everyone remembers JahVai Roy’s name. 

“His love language was loud,” Holly Roy told the crowd gathered outside the family’s North York apartment building. 

“He wanted to touch me, rub his mommy’s back. It was the little things. And that was our routine, in bed, snuggling,” she said, reflecting on the last happy memories she had with her son and his “energetic spirit.”

JahVai’s name echoed around the building Thursday evening as community leaders and advocates promised to never forget him.

Toronto police said a stray bullet from a shooting outside entered the family’s residence around 12:30 a.m. last Saturday, killing the boy. They have not released any information about possible suspects responsible for the death.

The boy’s funeral was held Wednesday on Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island.

“I buried my son yesterday,” his mother said while sobbing. “I told him, ‘you can watch over me now from up there.'”

JahVai aspired to be an advocate against bullying and violence, and Roy said she hopes he will spark change.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Coun. Frances Nunziata, who represents the neighbourhood, attended the vigil and pledged to address gun violence.

“We should not have to be afraid to walk our streets. We shouldn’t be afraid to have to sleep in our own bedroom,” Nunziata said. 

Chow said she empowers young people like JahVai to instil the importance of gun violence prevention into the next generations.

“(Young people) know what it takes to stop another young person to pick up a gun,” she said.

A rally against gun violence is also expected to take place Friday in front of Toronto City Hall.

Marcell Wilson, a friend of the family, said JahVai’s death “reflects the cracks in our society that we have allowed to widen.”

“This is not a fight we can leave on the shoulders of grieving parents or stretched thin police officers or service teams,” Wilson said. “This is bigger than any one sector (or) any one neighbourhood. We need all hands on deck.”

Wilson previously described JahVai as a “genuinely good, happy, compassionate, kind, curious child,” who always made sure to look after his mom and his two siblings.

“He was the type of boy that wanted to climb a tree, or if there was a bird or something, he’d want to pick it up and touch it,” Wilson said in an interview Tuesday. “He was fearless.”

A GoFundMe page launched in response to the boy’s death has raised more than $76,000 to help the family with funeral expenses, relocation costs and trauma counselling.

“Let JahVai Roy be the turning point,” Wilson said. “Let his story spark the fire in each of us to say, enough is enough.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.