Four years after a simple brush of a hand on a passing car may have cost Christopher Skinner his life, police say they have arrested one man for his death.

Agustin Caruso, 23, of Etobicoke, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder.

Skinner, 27, was trying to hail a cab after celebrating his younger sister’s birthday in the Entertainment District on Oct. 18, 2009, when he was punched and kicked by as many as five men and run over by a black Ford Explorer SUV, according to police.

Skinner was found lying in the middle of the road at Adelaide and Victoria Sts. clinging to life around 3 a.m. and would later die in hospital.

Police allege Caruso was driving the SUV with four men and two women inside and intentionally drove over Skinner, Det.-Sgt. Stacy Gallant said Thursday at a news conference filled with Skinner’s friends and family. Caruso was 19 at the time and is not known to police. He appeared in court on Thursday.

“This doesn’t do anything to bring Christopher back,” said mother Ellen Skinner, adding there is some relief the accused killer is no longer on the streets. “He was a star that was extinguished.”







Gallant says they know of at least two more people who were in the car and more arrests are expected.

“I’m disappointed to say that in the four years of this ongoing investigation, none of the individuals that did not participate in any way in the death of Chris Skinner chose to come forward on their own,” Gallant said. “They instead kept this information to themselves and lived with it for the past four years.”

Police earlier suspected that Skinner may have brushed his hand against the passing SUV as he tried to hail a cab, prompting the brutal beating. It’s a motive Gallant said he believes is still prominent in his case.

“There was a very minor interaction between Chris and the occupants of the vehicle that led to them exiting the vehicle and assaulting him,” Gallant said. “The information that led to this arrest came from police work.”

Skinner’s friends initially suspected Skinner had been killed because he was gay, but Gallant said Thursday his death was not a hate crime.

Gallant said the Explorer, believed to be the murder weapon and caught on security camera footage, was seized recently before the arrest.

Three weeks ago, on the fourth anniversary of his homicide police said they had made progress in the investigation as they identified the make, model, year range and colour scheme of the vehicle.

They also released a photo of the SUV believed to have been involved in the incident.

At a news conference Oct. 18., Skinner’s sister Taryn could not hold back tears.

“I’m tired of thinking that the person who’s responsible has carried on for four years,” she said. “They’re cowards.”

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Toronto Police Service News Conference, re: Homicide #43/2009, Christopher Skinner, 27

Gallant said police didn’t give up.

“We’re not going away,” Gallant said at the earlier news conference. “We’re going to keep coming back year after year after year.”

In 2010, the victim’s father, Warren Skinner told the Star his son had been planning to follow him in the legal profession.

A lot has changed since Skinner’s death.

Taryn, now 27, works full-time as a teacher and has since become engaged. Her wedding is this June. But one thing remains the same: Her brother, who was also engaged when he died, won’t be there.

“I never lost hope,” Warren said, saying his daughter was happy to hear news of the arrest.

On Thursday, retired homicide Det. Doug Dunstan said this was the one case that stayed with him when he left the force.

“This case is one of those cases that bugged you from the very get-go,” he said. He continued to follow developments after he turned in his gun and badge.

Ellen and Warren Skinner said they won’t go through the pain of attending court every day. Ellen said she didn’t even want to look at Caruso’s picture.

“Christopher was larger than life,” Ellen said of her son who was musical, in the gifted program at school, and visited his parents almost every weekend. “He was your best friend. He was your most loyal friend.”

Caruso has been remanded in custody and will make another court appearance on Dec. 2. His lawyer Gary Stortini declined to comment following his court appearance.