‘This was my child’: Timothy Tootoosis went to a party and never left

Warning, this story contains graphic details

Priscilla Tootoosis-Iron is reeling over her son’s murder in Saskatoon last month.

“I hope and pray that they do find, who (is) responsible,” said the Poundmaker First Nation teacher.

Her late son, 30-year-old Timothy Tootoosis, is the youngest of three brothers.

“Although he was a big person, physically, he was very kind, very considerate of others,” she said in an interview with 650 CKOM.

Tootoosis-Iron explained that even as a young boy when her son would see someone having a hard time, he would try to help.

“That’s what I’ve instilled, people need to be compassionate of other people and never to judge other people,” she said.

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Tootoosis is described as an “avid sports enthusiast,” who played soccer for the Native Sons soccer team, an Indigenous youth soccer program. The sport also took him as far as California and Europe.

“He was loved,” his mother said, noting past coaches and teammates attended his celebration of life in December 2024.

Aside from sports, Tootoosis was also a well-known round dance singer, powwow singer, and also sang in sacred lodges, with his grandfather whom he was close to.

“He was well known for his loud voice and I used to always joke and tell him, ‘You are most welcome for that,’” Tootoosis-Iron said.

After grade 12 Tootoosis studied arts and science at the University of Saskatchewan. He then worked for the Saskatoon Tribal Council and had aspirations to become an electrician.

“He was a person who had goals,” Tootoosis-Iron said.

In 2018, Tootoosis’ life took a turn when he lost his grandfather to lung cancer.

“Timothy took it the hardest,” his mother said, noting that’s when he started drinking.

“What started off as a way to medicate his grief snowballed from there into addictions,” she said, adding his drinking became chronic and led to friendships with those who had “questionable lifestyles.”

“Life certainly happened to my child,” she said. “And what happened was he went to a party and he never left.”

More questions than answers

Little details have been revealed by police about the ongoing murder investigation, including Tootoosis’ name.

On Dec. 18 around 7:30 p.m., the Saskatoon Police Service Guns and Gangs Unit and Tactical Support Unit were executing a search warrant at a home in the 1700 block of 22nd West.

When officers arrived, they found a man dead.

According to police, three men and one woman were taken into custody for questioning but were later released without charges.

“His body was lying there. He was dismembered.” Tootoosis-Iron said.  “It was done after he (had) already passed.”

“He was large, physically, so clearly they were doing that to dispose of his body.”

Tootoosis-Iron said she is in close contact with detectives in the investigation and prays they will find who is responsible for her son’s death.

Tootoosis-Iron now turns to her community and cultural teachings like smudging and ceremonies to process grief.

“My son is in the light now,” she said.

“There are so many people praying for us and I feel that,” she said.

Tootoosis-Iron said she has empathy for Indigenous people who don’t know where their sons or daughters are.

“I’m just thankful that I was able to bury my child and give him the protocols and the ceremonies that his spirit deserves,” she said.

Tootoosis-Iron called for more awareness of the racial profiling, bias, and prejudice that impacts Indigenous communities today, stating that “ignorance breeds ignorance.”

“This was my child,” she said.

“He did not live on the street. He had parents, grandparents, two grandmothers that are still alive, many aunts and uncles, extended family, and friends who loved Timothy greatly (and) still do.”