A grief-stricken mother pleaded on Saturday for the body of her missing son, who was allegedly shot and killed last week in Montreal North.
The 17-year-old victim, David Nyagahene Mutunzy, was gunned down on Oct. 25 in an apartment at 4220 Forest Street.
"Please show some compassion," the victim's mother, Liliane Nyagahene, cried out during a memorial gathering outside the building. "You've taken David from me. Now let me have him so I can bury him with dignity."
Mutunzy's death marked the city's 38th homicide of the year.
Montreal police have arrested an 18-year-old suspect in the killing, based on an eyewitness account.
Marchath Marseile, who has no criminal history but is known to police, has been charged with second-degree murder. He was arraigned in Quebec Court last Tuesday and will appear in court again on Dec. 19.
Police believe Mutunzy was lured inside the apartment for unknown reasons and fatally shot. But when investigators arrived, they didn't find a body.
"If we had his body, his soul could rest in peace," the victim's younger brother told CTV Montreal.
Nyagahene insisted her son had no connection to any gangs and was an innocent bystander.
"David was a smart kid, a chess master who was studying to be a computer engineer," she said.
Jean-Marie Mousenga, a spokesperson for Montreal's Congolese community, stood with the grieving family Saturday outside the apartment building.
He urged the person responsible for taking Mutunzy's remains to show some humanity.
"The mother just wants the body," he said.
With a report by CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux
