For the second night community residents and concerned citizens came together to remember the 55-year-old mother of three killed in a Cabbagetown alleyway two days ago.
Flowers, candles and letters lined the laneway Thursday night where Nighisti Semret was attacked and killed early Tuesday morning.
A tree was also planted in her memory in Winchester Square Park located nearby.
Earlier Thursday, police issued a request to residents in the area surrounding the alleyway to check their properties for the discarded murder weapon.
People living in the area bounded by Sherbourne Street to the west, Carlton Street to the south, Ontario Street to the east and Wellesley Street to the north are being asked to inspect their yards for a knife that may have been tossed by Semret’s killer.
“We are asking residents in the area to check their properties; their front yards, their rear yards, just in case they come across a discarded knife,” Const. Tony Vella told CP24. “If you do come across a knife please do not touch it but contact police immediately and the officers will come and they will handle the knife themselves.”
Police are also asking residents and business owners in the area who have security cameras to check surveillance tapes from Tuesday morning between 6:30 to 7 a.m. for anything suspicious.
"Review your tape and if you notice anything suspicious at all please contact investigators immediately," Vella said. "We want to know."
Next-of-kin notified
Earlier Thursday, police confirmed that relatives of Nighisti Semret have been notified of her death.
Police were able to track down Semret’s mother, brothers and three children in Uganda, Vella said.
Homicide detectives turned to consular officials for help after they were unable to locate and notify Semret’s relatives immediately following the killing.
The effort stalled because Semret’s employer and co-workers, people at the rooming house where she lived and immigration officials did not have any contact information for her family.
Semret was walking home from her job as a cleaner at the Delta Chelsea hotel on Gerrard Street when a knife-wielding man attacked her from behind in a lane near Ontario and Winchester streets Tuesday morning.
After releasing surveillance video of the victim and suspect, police are trying to identify Semret’s killer, who fled the homicide scene when a witness intervened.
Homicide detectives are trying to establish a motive and determine whether Semret knew her killer.
The mother of three lived alone in the neighbourhood, and police believe her killer lives in the same area or frequents it.
Semret moved to Toronto from Eritrea and dreamed of bringing her family to Canada one day, co-workers say.
Police are looking for a white male who is five-foot-10 to six-foot-two and 150 to 200 pounds with a medium build.
At the time of the attack, he was wearing a three-quarter length dark coat, a light or white scarf around his neck, a dark hat with a peak, dark pants and dark shoes.
Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
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