Popoola was killed by a gun blast. A day later, another 15-year-old Mississauga boy, who can't be identified, was charged with first-degree murder. He was remanded in a Brampton court yesterday. Slowly, details of Popoola's short life are beginning to emerge.
On his MySpace page, Popoola used the nickname "Jiggz," which others had given him. But he also called himself T.R.K., which stood for Tru Ridaz Kill.
His creed was printed in a tough rappin' style: "gotta pump for da bitch, machete for da snitch, o my god im caked but cant count it lyke dey stitches!!!"
The reference to the "machete for da snitch" may explain why so few of the teens who were in the schoolyard when he was shot have come forward to police.
Yesterday, several teens played soccer in the field beside St. Jude Separate School as if nothing had happened there at dinnertime two days earlier.
The only thing indicating a killing was a bouquet of pink roses rapidly wilting in the sun.
"Fifteen-year-olds obviously think a lot differently than you and I," said Const. Wayne Patterson of Peel Region Police.
"The victim's realm of friends is being somewhat hesitant to come forward. We're trying to figure what led to this. Was it spur of the moment? Was it prearranged?" Patterson said.
"It's quite obvious that there are more witnesses than have come forward. I'm not sure they understand the severity of what has gone on here," he said.
Homicide detectives are probing a gang connection, but haven't found one yet. Some of his friends indicated the victim was associated with gang members, but said he wasn't actually a member.
His friend Patrick, 15, who didn't give his surname, told The Globe and Mail: "I told him to leave. I told him it was stupid; don't go to the fight."
Patrick called his friend "a nice guy" who fell in with the wrong crowd, teens who were involved with drinking and drugs.
The homicide is the 19th in Peel so far this year, far ahead of last year's pace of killings.
"We can't deny we've got 19 homicides," said Patterson, who said the growth of the population and gangs only provides part of the explanation.
"We don't have any answers," he said.
In 2007, there were a total of 17 murders in the region over the entire year.
jstewart@mississauga.net
