

Joshua Freeman, CP24.com





The prematurely born baby boy of a woman who was fatally shot in a car in Jamestown last month has died in hospital, the child's family says.

Candice Rochelle Bobb was fatally struck by gunfire while sitting in a vehicle on John Garland Boulevard, near Jamestown Crescent, at around 11 p.m. on May 15.

Police said Bobb and three others were on their way home from a basketball game and had stopped to drop off a passenger when someone approached in another vehicle and opened fire.

The pregnant mother was the only one injured in the shooting. She was driven to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Her baby, estimated to have been about 20 weeks old, was delivered via emergency C-section and was then transferred to Sunnybrook Hospital where he remained in stable condition for several weeks.

In a statement released via Toronto police Sunday evening, the baby’s family said that he passed away shortly after 7 p.m. this evening.

No arrests have been made so far in connection with Bobb’s killing and police continue to appeal to witnesses to come forward.

The incident has sparked outrage over a spike in gun violence in the city.

Police Chief Mark Saunders has said the shooting was targeted, but it is not clear who the intended target was.

Speaking to reporters days after the shooting, Saunders said that the area where Bobb was shot has been the focus of increased police efforts to target gun violence. He said around 50 per cent of shootings in the area are gang related.

Speaking with CP24 Sunday evening, Toronto police spokesperson Const. Craig Brister said homicide investigators and crown attorneys will be deciding in the following days how the baby’s death will change the investigation.

“The investigation has been ongoing all along,” Brister said. “I imagine what’s going to happen this week is that homicide investigators are probably going to be working on this part of today and tomorrow and meeting with the crown to discuss whether or not this will become a double homicide and how the investigation will proceed from there.”

He also urged anyone with information to come forward to police.

“As usual, we’re appealing to the public. This was a horrible thing that’s happened. It was bad enough that one person had to be murdered but now we have a situation where we’re dealing with the unborn baby,” Brister said.

“If anyone has information we’re asking they contact Toronto police at 416 808-3300 or call Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.”