Family members have identified the man killed Monday inside his west-Ottawa apartment as Lonnie Leafloor, 56, of Ottawa.
Leafloor had lived in Ottawa Community Housing’s Lepage Manor at 1400 Lepage Avenue for the last decade. A small but heartfelt memorial was placed outside his apartment on Tuesday, hours after he was found murdered inside.
“He was murdered? Well my God that is crazy,” said Andre Mulumba who lives across the hall.
“He was very quiet, very well spoken” said one of the tenants Theresa Damiano who played cards with Leafloor for years, “we used to play cribbage, he was very good.”
Leafloor’s family members though, say Lonnie struggled most of his life with addiction. His brothers told CTV News that they “expected to get this call one day”, saying the last year Leafloor had hit his lowest point. He was very ill, his body was shutting down, and he had lost his will to live. They say their brother was selling drugs for a neighbor in the building and that neighbor had recently taken a knife to Leafloor’s throat. They say Leafloor was so concerned for his own safety that he had started carrying a weapon for protection. His brothers believe Lonnie was likely killed over drug money. They say they’re not surprised by his tragic death, it saddens them, but they believe he is now in “a better place”.
Some tenants have raised safety concerns, the head of Ottawa Community Housing, Stephane Giguere, says they are providing social workers to help tenants cope with the tragedy and have increased security patrols in the area, “walking the property, inside in the hallways, talking with tenants, engaging with them.”
