$50K reward offered for information in Isaiah Macnab's 2018 homicide

Waterloo regional police have announced a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to a conviction in a 2018 homicide.

Isaiah Macnab was shot and killed near downtown Kitchener just after 11 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2018 as he sitting in front of the halfway house where he was staying.

A white, four-door Mercedes with licence plate BZBP 153 was seen fleeing the scene with two people inside. Police say those licence plates were stolen. The car was last seen exiting Highway 401 at Trafalgar Road in Mississauga.

Police say the passenger in the vehicle is the person suspected of fatally shooting Macnab. He is described as being between the ages of 18 and 25 with a thin to medium build.

Police Chief Bryan Larkin says Macnab was "finding his life, finding his journey, finding his path" when he was killed.

He called the shooting a "horrendous, tragic crime" and said it was an "execution-style murder."

Larkin says investigators have continued to work on the case for the past two years to find the people responsible. Last year, a video was released on the anniversary of Macnab's death. But, Larkin says, appeals for information have not led to any tips to advance the investigation.

"Our investigative team firmly believes and strongly believes that there are people who know exactly what happened to Isaiah and why it happened to Isaiah," he said, but noted they may not be coming forward due to fear or intimidation.

'Isaiah never saw it coming'

Kelly Macnab, Isaiah's mother, spoke at the Waterloo Regional Police Services headquarters on Friday. She says the two were texting each other up to an hour before his death on the day he was shot. It was a normal conversation, discussing what kind of bank account he should open.

She says her memories of Isaiah now are "almost always marred by the brutal way in which he was killed."

She says his death was "extremely violent" and that he was ambushed as he looked down at his phone with earbuds in his ears.

"By all eyewitness accounts, Isaiah never saw it coming and had no time to react or to defend himself," she said. 

"The shooter exited the car and immediately shot my son, causing him to slump over. He then stood over my son, and riddled both his head and body with bullets," she added, stopping briefly as she became emotional recalling the details. 

"Isaiah was slaughtered and left to die in front of traumatized bystanders who watched as blood poured from that picnic table and the people responsible drove off," she said. 

No-snitch culture

Macnab says her son was at the halfway house after he entered the criminal justice system after making "a serious mistake." She said he could have continued down that path, but he wanted to turn his life around. He believed in making restitution and he was making gains in finding employment and counselling, she said. He had plans to go to college.

"He should be standing here as a living, breathing example of a successful rehabilitation story that is the ultimate goal of our criminal justice system. Instead, he is dead," she said.

Macnab urged anyone with information about her son's death to come forward. She criticized a "ridiculous don't-snitch culture" and asked people to think how their own mothers or families would feel in similar circumstances.

"You have the power to help us get some semblance of closure," she said. "My son Isaiah was, and always will remain, the love of my life. He was murdered at just 20 years of age. The day that he died, my world went dark."