'Missing Q': Family seeks justice months after killing of Quentin Dorsainvil

The family of a promising young athlete who was shot dead in Ottawa's Centretown neighbourhood last year say they're still seeking justice nine months later.

On Sept. 15, 2024, 17-year-old Quentin Dorsainvil was slain near the corner of Percy and Nepean streets. He'd joined relatives that night to watch his brother perform at a nearby arts venue. 

Police have not charged anyone in Dorsainvil's death, though the investigation remains open. 

Dorsainvil played football locally for the Kanata Knights and Cumberland Panthers.

"He was a hell of a player on the field," said his friend and former Knights teammate Zander Stevens. 

Dorsainvil dreamed of making it in the NFL and transferred last year to a high school in Miami in the hopes of securing a scholarship for college ball, his mother Lordy Exantus previously told CBC. 

"Missing Q, it's the hardest thing in our life," Exantus said via text last week. "It's not easy and it's not going to be easy soon."

"I don't know how this isn't solved yet," she remarked about the case. "I still try to remain hopeful and trust in our system, [but] there [is someone responsible] on the loose and we all know it."

'Difficult from the word go'

Police are confident Dorsainvil was not the intended target that night. 

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) charged an individual with a weapons offence after the incident, but that person was not connected to the Dorsainvil shooting, said Staff Sgt. Jeff Pilon, one of two senior officers overseeing OPS's homicide unit.

In early October, the unit sought the public's help to identify three people of interest. The three were ultimately found but are also not suspected of having been involved in Dorsainvil's killing, Pilon said. 

"It was pretty difficult from the word go," Pilon said of getting tips on the case. "We have received some ... but it wasn't a floodgate."

Witness co-operation has been an issue, and it was also dark when the shooting happened, Pilon added. 

"We do know the people tend to disguise their identities when they're committing criminal acts. That's another avenue that's difficult," he said. 

Dorsainvil's death is one of four homicides in 2024 that remain unsolved. 

"I don't mean this in any way negative about the police, but I do wish there was some justice handed out," Dorsainvil's friend Stevens said. 

Pilon said investigators are still following up on other leads, and said innocent people mowed down by gunfire can't be allowed "as a society."

"All of our victims are equally important, they all matter and we investigate each and every case with the same dedication and vigour," he said via email. "There is a great deal of behind the scenes investigative work that has been and continues to be done in this case."

People that know something are urged to come forward, Pilon said. 

"Because often it just takes that one little break."

‘I don’t know what I’m going to do’: Mother of boy killed in shooting describes pain of his loss

10 months ago

Duration 4:04

Lordy Exantus says several members of the family, including her son Quentin Dorsainvil, went to a concert at the Bronson Centre Sunday night. Quentin was shot and killed shortly after the concert ended, leaving his family struggling with his loss.