TOLEDO, Ohio — A south Toledo community is in shock tonight after the shooting death of Javonti McCray, 19, who was found by first responders at the Canyon Cove Apartments on Holland-Sylvania Road, shot at least once on Sunday night around 8:30 p.m.
He died at the hospital. His death comes as a shock to the local community, who describe the neighborhood as peaceful.
"It's very sad, and I don't know, I never felt unsafe in this area. It's quiet, neighbors are friendly," Sultan Mathkour, a Holland-Sylvania Road resident, said.
McCray's death marks the 60th homicide Toledo has seen in 2021. Last year at this time there were 55 homicides. Residents we spoke to were unaware of just how high the numbers are.
"It's unfortunate, very unfortunate. I grew up in the south end of Toledo, so that's very sad," said Deb Piotrowski, co-owner of SMS Nutrition.
With the homicide rate climbing, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz has appointed current fire chief Brian Byrd to take on the new position of city safety director. Byrd is calling for more community outreach to curtail violence in the city.
"So the community needs to step up and do what we need to do to address these issues," Byrd said during a press conference on Nov. 15. "That's a fact. We have a lot of organizations out there already doing good stuff, we need to figure out what they're doing, what's working and create some synergy when it comes to addressing these problems."
However, residents on Holland-Sylvania road say that, despite Sunday's violence, they still consider the area safe.
"I think it's a freak incident, I'm hoping it's a freak incident, because this is a nice area," Piotrowski said.
"I think nothing changed. I'm sorry, but to me, I don't feel unsafe," Mathkour said. "I don't know the situation, I don't know what happened, but I don't feel unsafe."
Toledo police stated the investigation into this latest homicide is ongoing, and there are no suspects at this time.
If you have any information, you're encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 419-255-1111.