Two men have been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of TSN staffer Jonathan Gayle-West in December.

Gayle-West, of Oshawa, was found suffering from gunshot wounds in his car at Islington Ave. and St. Andrews Blvd. in Etobicoke at about 6 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2018. He was pronounced dead on scene.

Toronto police on Friday said they arrested two 18-year-old Toronto men in connection with the killing on Wednesday: Samir Adem and Salman Ahmed, both of Toronto.

Gayle-West’s brother, Justin Gayle, said he and the family are feeling “cautiously optimistic” after the arrests. “This is a really good step, and it’s amazing, but we know it’s not the end,” he said.

Gayle, a third-grade teacher who said he’s teaching lessons on space, described his brother as “supernova of a person.”

“(A black hole is) a star that died, and when a star dies it creates this incredible vaccuum that can’t be replaced,” he said. “And that’s really a good metaphor for my brother, his life and his death.”

The 29-year-old was beloved by his TSN colleagues, many of whom paid tribute to a man they described as a great guy, with a gregarious demeanour and infectious smile.

TSN host Jay Onrait at the time said Gayle-West was about to interview for an anchor spot with the network — a gig Onrait believed he would get.

Gayle-West was a member of the production team at TSN where he worked with Onrait and co-host Dan O’Toole, BarDown, TSN 1050 and in the newsroom, the outlet said in a tweet.

O’Toole last year painted a portrait of a colleague who worked in several departments at TSN. “He worked in the newsroom, he worked in the social media department, he worked all around this building,” O’Toole said.

“In a short time here, I don’t think there is single person in this building that didn’t know who he was, whose day he didn’t brighten with his smile.”

Gayle-West was on his way home to his mother’s house when he was killed. She was expecting him by 8 p.m.

Gayle-West’s mother, Grace Gayle, last year told the Star her son was a “man of faith” — he was on his way back from a Bible study, his brother Justin said.

Toronto police arrested two 18-year-old Toronto men in connection with the killing on Wednesday: Samir Adem and Salman Ahmed, both of Toronto.

Adem was arrested earlier this month in connection to an armed robbery of cash and tobacco products from a Guelph gas station, Toronto police confirmed.

Both teens appeared in court on Thursday.

Justin Gayle said the family doesn’t recognize the names of the accused, and neither Grace nor Justin could think of any reason why something like this could have happened to their loved one.

“Nothing that would have made someone take his life,” Grace Gayle said.

In an attempt to “pickup the pieces” from a recent breakup, Gayle-West started scribbling in a journal, where he wrote Bible verses, later found by his brother, Justin told the Star in December.

“I found all this stuff of a man picking himself back up,” he said. “He had a vision board looking towards the future.”

“With the kind of person he was and how he affected people, it’s just an unanswerable question right now,” he said.

Police found Gayle-West in the driver’s seat of his car, which had struck a tree.

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He was Toronto’s 93rd homicide victim of 2018, a record year.

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TSN staffer was on verge of big break before he was shot and killed, colleagues say

With files from Jason Miller.

Jack Hauen is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star’s radio room in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @jackhauen

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