JahVai Roy loved sports and music. His favourite colour was blue.
All three were on full display Saturday as more than 100 children, parents and community leaders gathered at downtown Toronto’s Canoe Landing Park and recreation centre to celebrate the life of the eight-year-old, who was killed last year by a stray bullet that pierced his family’s North York apartment as he was lying in bed.
Organized by his mother, Holly Roy, the memorial was centred on the memory of her son — a boy she described as full of personality, energy and affection — while also recognizing his place as a symbol of Toronto’s continuing wave of gun violence. Police laid first-degree murder charges against three youths in the months after his death.
“I want to be very intentional in celebrating my son,” Roy told the Star.
“The way he passed was horrible, and it’s hard to live with, but I have to do my best to carry him with such big love, continue to be his voice and his advocate.”
That’s how Roy decided on a community event that included some of her son’s favourite things, such as hip-hop, dancing and games.
She said friends and family had urged her to find a way to celebrate JahVai’s life publicly. After a year of mourning in private, she decided it was time to take that step, as an Indigenous mother and community advocate who believes healing and prevention go hand in hand.
“I can’t change what happened to my son, but I can work toward changing what happens to another mother’s child,” she said in a speech to open the daylong event that drew people from across Ontario.
Surrounding her were symbols of JahVai’s memory: Her nails were manicured in baby blue with JahVai’s photograph. A cotton candy machine dispensed blue tufts of sugar, while blue water bottles emblazoned with his name were given out.
A trio of professional sports mascots — for the Toronto Raptors, the Leafs and the Argonauts — danced with the kids and snapped selfies with the adults near tables of local Indigenous and Black community organizations.
“I don’t want anybody standing around being sad all day,” Roy told the crowd.
“I want you to participate, meet the organizations, look at the resources, and connect with each other. Because today we are celebrating life, we are here to celebrate community and love.”
On stage, students from Maple Leaf Public School performed a dance routine before lifting signs above their heads calling for an end to gun violence, while motivational speaker Khalil Dorival shared his experiences as a troubled youth, encouraging teens in the audience to think of ways to avoid falling victim to a negative outlook on their lives.
Nekai Foster, who was caught in the crossfire of a 2023 random shooting when he was 16, spoke about the importance of youth jobs programs in keeping teenagers away from lives of crime.
“They have to be pushed by the right things,” he said. “Especially when you come from a neighbourhood that’s not structurally set up for you to win.”
Mayor Olivia Chow, who joined Roy in releasing two doves into the air, commended her for organizing an event that channelled positive solutions for her community.
“In your darkest moment, you did not forget that we can work for change,” Chow said in a speech as she stood beside Roy.
Roy said the spate of gun violence this summer has intensified her conviction to push for better youth support programs and government action. Last month, she marched in an anti-gun violence demonstration just days after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Cashie Auguste in North York last month.
“Oh it cuts deep, it does,” she said. “Because I know that pain. I know how it affects families. And that’s why I want to turn my experience — my pain — into purpose.”
Spadina—Fort York MPP Chris Glover said Roy appealed directly to the Ontario legislature’s justice committee last week, writing a letter that urged a better investment in programs that keep youth from turning to crime.
Roy said she also intends her son’s memorial to become an annual celebration in the city that’s focused on the betterment of youth.
“Sometimes we need to come together and be reminded there’s people who care — that we can create a better, more passionate city.”
