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Ashley Quintin Charest, 28, was shot to death May 15th, 2008.

Charest was Edmonton's twelfth homicide victim of the year.

Case status is open and active.

Police continue to investigate Edmonton's 12th homicide of 2008.

911 calls reporting shots fired started coming in at about 1:15 a.m. May 15th, 2008 from the city's northeast.

Police arrived and found a 28-year-old man apparently dead from gunshot wounds in the parking lot of a strip mall near 139th Avenue and 26th Street.

Witnesses and patrol officers immediately performed CPR on the victim but the man died before paramedics arrived on scene.

Investigators started working with a vague description of the shooter and possibly two getaway cars. Police believed the incident to be a targeted shooting, part of a drug deal gone bad, and and not a random act of violence.

"We're still piecing everything together," Insp. Terry Rocchio said.

"It's still very early in the investigation. We've got some detectives out from different divisions in the city. We're going to be doing door-to-doors in the next couple of hours, hopefully we will find some other witnesses and try to piece it together from that."

Rocchio was asked about the vehicle descriptions provided by witnesses.

"There was some information and I'm not going to give it out now because it's been a car – it's been an SUV – so not to muddle things up or confuse people."

A police spokesman later added some details.

"Police believe that the victim was meeting with someone. He was in his vehicle, and they believe when he came out of his vehicle, that's when he was shot."

As word of the murder spread, family members gathered at the scene.

Those in attendance witnessed the unsettling sight of staff from the medical examiner's office moving the body from the ambulance to their van.

As night became day, forensic officers could be seen working a wide area, remaining at the strip mall until mid-morning.

Metal detectors were used to locate shell casings.

Also of interest to police was an older model blue compact car.

It was family who first told media the identity of the twelfth murder victim of the year was Ashley Quintin Charest. Autopsy results confirmed that he died from gunshots wounds to the chest.

Charest left behind an eight-year-old daughter. Family said he was not a drug dealer and had no ties to gangs.

However, when policed released the man's identity they said his murder was likely the result of a drug deal gone bad. They also said they had no suspect description.

Witnesses gave conflicting accounts about the number of gunshots and types of vehicles seen driving away.

Most said two vehicles – a grey SUV closely followed by red car driven by a young blond woman – were involved, both travelling eastbound.

"They were right on each other's butts," said a 14-year-old girl who added that the woman soon returned to the scene in her car.

Another witness told media she took down the SUV's licence plate number.

Margaret Watt drew police to a bullet that was lodged in the wall of her apartment at 2608 139 Avenue, located about 30 metres across from where the body was found.

"I told them when I came home from taking the girls to school that I spotted a hole in the wall that wasn't there yesterday," she said. "I turned around and looked closer and saw the bullet."

Several officers then used their home handyman skills to get at the bullet.

"At least it didn't penetrate the wall," Watt said. On the other side of the wall was the woman's refrigerator.

While police were uncertain the bullet in the siding was related to the shooting they gathered the metal fragments as part of the investigation.

Watt obliged media by pointing out the modifications police made to her siding before offering her views.

"[It's] terrifying because I have two little ones who live with me," she said, blaming the shooting on drug dealers.

"We've been here coming on three years and there's always crack dealers in here," she said. "They don't care whether there are kids out here or not. They have no morals."

Watt said her plans to move will now happen sooner rather than later but she was uncertain of exactly what part of the city. "This was the last straw," she said.

“What neighbourhood is safe? There's no neighbourhood that is safe anymore. Crack dealers are everywhere. Get rid of crack dealers and maybe we'll stand a chance.”

Toni Bull said she knew the victim who once helped her beat an addiction to crack cocaine.

“It's very common in this area to hear gunshots, but usually it's just kids playing around. Last night it was a true gunshot, and it was one of my friends that got murdered,” Bull said.

"He was a very nice guy. He really wanted out of the situation that he was in. Last time I had talked with him and his wife he really sounded serious that he wanted to get out of that life."

Bull lived with her three young children in a nearby townhouse. A loud noise in the middle of the night woke her up.

“I didn't think anything of it,” she said. She believed her friend was murdered over stolen crack cocaine.

Media interviewed other witnesses and neighbours.

After the shots rang out, a man named Paul ran to the dying victim and pinched him on his shoulder. The man only gasped, he said.

“I couldn't see any blood but he was warm to touch, fiery, really hot to touch up the sleeves. I tried to get a response from him. I got him to breathe a few times but that was it.

"I told him that help was on the way," he said. "I tried to do some CPR, tried to keep him alive."

When police arrived they pulled out a defibrillator. Paramedics came soon after but were told they weren't needed.

"The ambulance didn't make it in time. He was dead in my arms," Paul said. "I wish shit like this didn't happen in this city."

Another neighbour described the area as one frequented by emergency services.

"That apartment building is busy," she said. "Every other night there's ambulance, fire trucks, police."

Despite the assessment the woman said she wasn't worried for herself of others as long as they're not involved in crime or violence.

"Nobody is going to come up and shoot you if you don't do anything," she said. "And my husband's a really big scary guy."

She acknowledged that the Clareview area has a reputation. "But it's not as bad as anywhere else."

A building resident by the name of Neil said he wasn't surprised to hear the killing was a targeted hit related to drug dealing.

“Apparently, there are a bunch of crack dealers who come around here,” he said, adding the dealers' high-end cars are conspicuous as they wait for customers.

A couple who manage apartment buildings in the area noted that neither Charest nor his mother live there.

They defended the buildings' reputation, saying it's not the tenants who are the problem but rather the dealers who use the parking lot as a place to conduct business.

Fun, loving and hard working was how Ashley Charest was described by his family.

His mother Claire said he was a practical joker and a math whiz who loved travelling. Ashley had close ties to his family and wanted to create a stable life for his eight-year-old daughter.

He was well-liked, said Claire, a hard worker who wanted to be a truck driver.

"Every job that he's had he's worked hard. He's done his job, he's surpassed what he was supposed to do."

Speaking to media, she stared at pictures of her only son.

"My favourite memory is my son's smile," she said.

"He had this smile that was like a jokester would have. I have a lot of memories of my son.

"The last thing he told me was not to bother calling someone to do my floors. He knew how to install hardwood floors and he was going to tile my floors for me," Claire said.

She didn't want to talk about why someone would have wanted her son dead.

"He was a good kid. He had a big heart," she said. "He was very outgoing and he always had people around him. Anyone who met Ashley automatically liked him."

Ashley's younger sister, Cory, was the one taking care funeral arrangements, Claire said.

"They are just two and half years apart. You don't expect the younger sister to be burying her brother. She wanted nothing but the best for her brother. We love him and we miss him," she said.

Christine Charest-Dionne spoke of what she would remember about her brother.

"He had some problems in the later part of his lifetime but when you want to remember somebody for who they were, you want to remember what was important.

"And was important that we was good to our children. He was a loving guy."

deadmonton 2008 - ashley quintin charest