{"id":87287,"date":"2025-08-21T22:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T22:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/87287\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T22:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T22:49:09","slug":"pain-of-losing-son-to-gun-violence-is-indescriabable-boys-mom-says-as-community-hold-vigil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/87287\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain of losing son to gun violence is ‘indescriabable,’ boy’s mom says, as community hold vigil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Breathing heavily and filled with emotion, the heartbroken mother of JahVai Roy says she is feeling \u201cindescribable\u201d pain after losing her youngest child to gun violence.<\/p>\n

JahVai died on Aug. 16<\/a> after being struck by a stray bullet in his North York home while in bed next to his mom. The shooter or shooters are still outstanding and police have not released any descriptive details about them at this time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Police search, JahVai Roy Toronto police continue to search for those responsible for the fatal shooting of eight-year-old JahVai Roy on Aug. 16 in North York. (child’s photo Supplied) <\/p>\n

A traditional funeral service and burial took place on Manitoulin Island on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

During a brief interview outside her apartment building prior to a community vigil for her son, Holly Roy told CTV News Toronto she\u2019s still very much in disbelief following the tragedy that has struck her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel real. I know it\u2019s real but I\u2019m still trying to wrap my mind around what the rest of my life is going to look like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have so much gratitude for all the support from the city, from my community, my family, and my friends. I\u2019m very surrounded by love right now so it\u2019s keeping me present. I\u2019m here and I need to be the voice for my little guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy previously said she wants JahVai\u2019s name to be a \u201cbeacon,\u201d reiterating that she doesn\u2019t want anyone to forget it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was such sweet energy. He was so good. He really advocated for violence prevention, you know, and I\u2019m trying to wrap my mind around this,\u201d she said late Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"\"JahVai Roy JahVai Roy, 8, was fatally struck by a stray bullet in his North York Home on Aug. 16. (Island Funeral Home\/photo) <\/p>\n

Roy said she\u2019s long advocated for violence prevention, adding that her own family has been personally touched by it.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, (JahVai\u2019s) witnessed a lot of trauma in his little life. His brother is a survivor of gun violence. His sister\u2019s been threatened by gun violence,\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just always been uplifting, you know, like trying to bring the good energy in our home and, like, you know, make everything okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy said her son was an adventurous kid who was loved by many. She said his love language was \u201cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very full of love. You know, he\u2019s very comforting. He\u2019s very comforting,\u201d she said, sharing how her son loved animals, especially snakes.<\/p>\n

Roy said her favourite memory of JahVai is when they were up on the Wikwemikong Reserve on Manitoulin Island, where\u2019s she from, and he snuck a frog and a snake into her sister\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just always been very active, very energetic,\u201d she smiled.<\/p>\n

JahVai, she said, was most at home up on the reserve, calling it \u201chis sanctuary, his space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cried every time he had to come back to the city. He was free. You know, he wanted to be free if we were in the city,\u201d Roy said, remembering JahVai as a fearless kid who would always be seen climbing a tree.<\/p>\n

\"\"JahVai Roy JahVai Roy, 8, is Toronto’s 26th homicide victim of 2025. (Toronto police handout\/supplied) <\/p>\n

Aside from being a free-spirited boy, JahVai was also an anti-violence advocate, his mom said.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, he\u2019d been featured in an anti-bullying video created by the One by One Movement in which he urged people to \u201cbe nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(JahVai) was the youngest member of the One by One Movement. They\u2019ve been very supportive of my family. \u2026 It\u2019s unfortunate that we\u2019re here now, like, you know, that\u2019s what he wanted to do. He just wanted to bring people together. It shouldn\u2019t have happened to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy went on to say that she shouldn\u2019t be here now grieving the death of her young boy to gun violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been through this and I\u2019m still trying to wrap my mind around (it) because I\u2019ve been in community, advocating against gun violence, community violence. I\u2019ve been giving resources, you know, I\u2019ve been living this, and to have my baby taken from me so violently, I can\u2019t get my mind around it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

JahVai\u2019s mother said she\u2019s found some comfort in the deep connections she has to her Indigenous culture and believes that her son\u2019s spirit will always remain with her and take care of her. She also said that she has two other children who need their mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to come together. We need to make a change. This shouldn\u2019t happen to anybody,\u201d Roy said, vowing to make a big change in her son\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n

Community vigil held for JahVai in North York<\/p>\n

A candlelight vigil for JahVai got underway on Thursday at 5 p.m. outside the family\u2019s home on Martha Eaton Way, near Trethewey Drive.<\/p>\n

The gathering was put together by 20-year-old community organizer Tenzin Urgyen with the support of the boy\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

A rally against gun violence has also been organized for Friday from 10 a.m. to noon outside Toronto City Hall at 100 Queen St. W.<\/p>\n

A community town hall on gun violence in Youth South-Weston is also set to take place in September with Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breathing heavily and filled with emotion, the heartbroken mother of JahVai Roy says she is feeling \u201cindescribable\u201d pain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-87287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}