ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police are urging a suspect accused of killing two relatives to turn himself in, as they continued their search in an Etobicoke neighbourhood on Monday.
Joseph Ayala, 33, is wanted for second-degree murder in the deaths of an 82-year-old woman and a 60-year-old woman, who were found in an Etobicoke home on Friday.
Police have received “numerous tips and have followed up on them,” but haven’t located the suspect, a spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.
“We urge Mr. Ayala to contact a lawyer and surrender to police.”
Police have described Ayala as five-foot-eleven and said he currently has a shaved head. He is known to wear a cowboy hat, black cowboy boots and a jacket with tassels on the sleeves.
He is considered dangerous and shouldn’t be approached by the public, police said.Â
Ayala had been involved with the police before, a person familiar with the family told the Star, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The source and several neighbours told the Star the victims were Ayala’s grandmother, 82-year-old Colleen Fraser, and his 60-year-old mother Sherry Fraser. He had lived with the two women and had not worked for several years, the source added.
Flowers lay outside an Etobicoke home where a 82-year-old woman and a 60-year-old woman were found dead on Friday. Police are still searching for the suspect, 33-year-old Joseph Ayala.Â
Calvi Leon / ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ StarFamily members had called police in the past when Ayala refused to take his medication for his schizophrenia, the source said, adding that he had threatened to hurt people in the past but never directed those threats toward his grandmother or mother.
On Monday, multiple police cruisers and a forensics van were still stationed at the house, a bungalow on Silvercrest Avenue, between Sheldon Avenue and Aldercrest Road. At the edge of the front lawn, propped up against a tree, were bouquets of colourful flowers and a note that read: “Your kindness will be forever appreciated.”
Officers were also seen flying a drone above railway tracks at the edge of a residential neighbourhood just west of Kipling Avenue and north of Lake Shore Boulevard West.
A ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police officer flies a drone in Etobicoke, west of Kipling Avenue and north of Lake Shore Boulevard West.
Calvi Leon / ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ StarPolice were first called to the home after receiving a call from a “concerned relative†around 1 p.m. on Friday, said ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Det. Sgt. Jason Davis. When they arrived, they found the two women injured and “beyond help.†Both of them were pronounced dead on scene.
Police have not specified the nature of injuries that the women suffered to “protect the integrity of the investigation,†nor have they provided a motive.
At this point, it’s likely police are combing through security footage, cellphone records and any bank or credit card activity to locate the suspect, in addition to whatever physical evidence they found at the scene, said Kevin Bryan, a former police detective who spent 16 years with York Regional Police’s forensics unit.
Any information from people who knew Ayala or have knowledge on the areas or establishments he frequents could be pivotal in locating him, he said.
“If there is something that ties him to the community, in the way of a job, associates, a girlfriend, friends, that’s going to make it easier … But if he’s a loner type person, sometimes they can be difficult to find,†Bryan said.
Former ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ homicide detective Mark Mendelson said investigators would also be reviewing any past interactions with police, contacting authorities along the border and obtaining search warrants for devices he used, such as a laptop or tablet.
They’d be interested in the suspect’s search history to determine a possible motive, or potential clues about his whereabouts.
“Hypothetically,” Mendelson said, “has he been online finding out how much it costs to get a Via Rail trip to Ottawa, or Montreal or Winnipeg?”
He said the longer the suspect is at large, the more opportunity he has to get farther away from the city.
“Ideally they want to get them and get them quickly, but there’s no fixed time frame. The earlier the better, when things are fresh in people’s minds.”
By sharing his picture with the general public, Mendelson added, “there is always the hope that somebody may see him somewhere in a park, subway station, restaurant, and make that phone call.”
With files from Andy Takagi
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