Four-year-old Key’vontay Simon reaches for the newspaper from his car seat – he recognizes his grandmother’s photo on the front page.
Pictured beside her is a man being escorted by police.
“Police are taking him away,” he says. “Did he do something bad?”
The man is Demarqus Shane Beals, who was charged late last week with the second degree murder of Keya Simon – the mother Key’vontay barely knows.
She took the newspaper away from him before he could ask the follow up question.
“I don’t want to break that little boy’s heart” said Torina Simon, Keya’s mother, who took custody of her grandson when he was nine-months old after Keya was killed in 2011.
But Keya’s case isn’t unusual.
According to data from Statistics Canada for the past 10 years, two out of every three homicides in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRP) result in charges — of those charged, only half result in a guilty conviction.
Gang and gun violence harder to solve
“We knew right from the beginning that there were a number of people who could have provided information,” HRP’s Supt. Jim Perrin told reporters following the charges last week. There were at least 30 people at the party the night Simon was stabbed, according to news reports, and police still couldn’t get people to talk.
“That’s 60 [eyes],” said Torina. “What? Was everybody blind?”
On that January night, a fight broke out in the apartment when several uninvited people showed up.
It spilled into the hallway, and Keya was stabbed.
When police arrived, she was in the front foyer of the building with one stab wound to the chest. Numerous people were still around, but were “mostly uncooperative.”
Simon’s sister, Tiesha Allison, who threw the party, was also stabbed, but survived.
Halifax Regional Police media Cst. Pierre Bourdages said a major problem police encounter when trying to solve homicides is unhelpful witnesses.
“We have individuals that have information or that know exactly who’s responsible, who will not provide information to police,” he said.
There’s very little incentive for witnesses to come forward – especially when it could put them in danger, said Christopher Murphy, a sociology professor at the University of King’s College.
“In Halifax, everybody knows everybody … they know who’s who and what’s what,” he said. “There’s nowhere to hide, there’s nowhere to run in this city.”
A 2012 report by Statistics Canada found a homicide was nearly 50 per cent less likely to be solved if it involved a gang, drugs or firearms.
Canadian cities with more gang activity, the report found, have higher rates of unsolved homicides.
In Halifax, the average clearance rate for the past 10 years, is 66 per cent – making it one of the lowest in Canada.
Of the 18 listed deaths on Nova Scotia Reward for Unsolved Crimes program, 11 were caused by a shooting.
Police will not say whether the program, which pays out $150,000 for information leading to an arrest, helped bring new information about Keya’s death to light.
“I can’t let that bother me because I have a four-year-old to look after,” said Torina. “I have to keep going, everyday just looking after him.”
Charge vs. conviction
“Charging someone is only half the game,” says retired detective turned private investigator, Tom Martin. “Nothing matters until it hits the courtroom.”
In Nova Scotia, on average, about half of homicide charges end in a guilty conviction, according to the past 10 years of Statistics Canada data.
The rest of the cases are usually put on hold, thrown out or referred to alternative sentencing, such as restorative justice programs. The data, however, doesn’t distinguish between a dropped case and a suspect who was given an alternative sentence.
“That’s a horrible percentage,” said Martin, who has been an outspoken critic of Halifax’s growing number of cold cases. “That’s not good enough, especially when it comes to murder.”
In 2012/2013, for instance, of the 11 homicide cases to hit the courts in Nova Scotia, six ended in a guilty verdict. Five were either paused, withdrawn or had alternative charges. No charges were outright acquitted.
Nova Scotia’s average, however, was only slightly higher than the Canadian average of guilty convictions.
Martin admits a perfect conviction rate isn’t possible, but he thinks departments should strive for “no less” than a 75 to 80 per cent conviction rate.
“The courts will not accept and will not put up with anything less than a professional, complete investigation,” he said.
A case will be thrown out if there isn’t enough evidence, he said, and to avoid that, more money and resources are needed, .
“That’s where it takes extra man power, that’s where it takes extra dedication, that’s where it takes extra commitment by management,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re missing here.”
While charges were recently laid in Keya’s case, it still needs to work its way through the courts – a process Torina says she will be part of.
“I just want to ask him why,” she said.
Halifax’s growing underbelly
Despite Halifax’s reputation as a pleasant seaside city, all freshly caught lobster and Maritime hospitality, its friendly facade masks a growing darkness underneath.
In 2011, the city’s homicide rate hit an all-time high, putting Halifax in second place that year for highest in Canada.
While the homicide rate has decreased since then, the number of attempted murders hit an all-time high in 2013.
A recently released report, called the 2014 HRM Roundtable Review, found that the “guns, shooting and drug culture” in the city has worsened since the last review in 2008.
But this isn’t news to local police officials; according to police board minutes, discussions about the increase in gun crime started in 2009.
The majority of the guns, the minutes note, were coming from break-ins.
Police have started several initiatives to curb the city’s gun problem since 2009 – including exchange programs and community outreach. In 2012/2013, an integrated “guns and gangs unit” was created within the Criminal Investigations Unit, according to HRP’s approved operating budget.
But, when the issue was raised this past May, however, just before the release of the roundtable findings, the discussion at the police board had changed.
Chief Jean-Michel Blais said it is “important to look at the trends with respect to homicides in HRM.”
He said, out of the six homicides in HRM, two involved were related to drugs, two were due to domestic violence, one involved alcohol and the other involved an elderly person with dementia.
But, according to the recent review, “the war has not yet been won” – a view many Halifax families waiting for answers, like the Simon’s, would probably agree with.
