Mother of Saskatoon homicide victim says former soccer star came from long line of strong leaders
CBC
Warning: This story contains distressing details.
Priscilla Tootoosis-Iron says she will not stay silent about what happened to her son.
She says the stakes are too high and shying away from hard conversations is not her family's style.
Tootoosis-Iron is a high school sciences teacher on the Poundmaker Cree Nation west of North Battleford, Sask. The 56-year-old mother and grandmother confirmed that her 30-year-old son Tim Tootoosis was the final homicide victim in Saskatoon for 2024.
Police haven't released Tim's name and are saying little publicly about the case, beyond an initial news release.
"At around 7:30 p.m. on December 18, 2024, members of the Saskatoon Police Service Guns and Gangs Unit, with the assistance of the Tactical Support Unit, were executing a search warrant at a residence in the 1700 block of 22nd Street West," the news release said.
"Upon entering the residence, officers located a deceased male. Three men and one woman were taken into police custody for further questioning but were later released without charges."
No one has been charged in Tim's death.
In an interview this week, Tootoosis-Iron said she is in constant contact with major crimes officers and is haunted and disturbed by what happened to "Baby Tim."
"My child was brutally murdered in this city and we know by who, by which group of people," she said.
"What really just blows my mind is that, you know, I get it — life happens, stuff happens to people. But when does that give anybody the right to rationalize in their brain somehow that it's OK to go and kill your own people?"
Tim Tootoosis comes from a family with a long and storied history of activism in the province.
His uncle, Jake Tootoosis, was a respected lawyer in Saskatoon. His extended family includes late actor Gordon Tootoosis, Saskatoon activist-historian Tyrone Tootoosis and John B. Tootoosis, the first president of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).
Tim's grandfather, James Tootoosis Jr., was a cultural leader who travelled organizing sacred sundance ceremonies.
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Warning: This story contains details some may find disturbing.