Slain promoter's business ties probed

Victim targeted, police confirm Man was found shot in Hummer The fatal shooting of an urban-music promoter and father of three young children does not appear to be gang-related, police said yesterday.

Farouk Sylvester Musah, 33, was shot and killed early Sunday morning. He was found slumped in the driver's seat of his white Hummer, near Lower Sherbourne Ave. and The Esplanade, after residents called police to report gunfire just after 5 a.m. It was Toronto's 37th homicide of the year.

Emergency medical crews arrived at the scene but could not save Musah. A post-mortem examination performed yesterday identified the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds.

Police confirmed that they believe Musah was the victim of a targeted killing.

"I say this in the sense that our victim appears to be the intended victim," said Detective Sergeant Mark Saunders.

Despite the style of the early-morning attack, Saunders said the homicide wasn't related to street crime.

"At this time, our evidence does not point towards gangs and does not point towards drugs," he said.

Musah, who also went by the nickname "Cool C," had come to Canada from Ghana in 1992.

He was in a 10-year common-law relationship and had three children, ages 8, 5 and 16 months.

A relative reached last night, who asked not to be identified, had just seen Musah's photo on the evening news.

She was distraught and said she couldn't understand why someone would want to kill Musah.

"He was a good father ... and a very good person," she said. "I still can't believe it."

Another woman who contacted the Star said Musah was a principal in a business called Moonlight Entertainment that co-sponsored the first Toronto International Reggae Festival, held at Lamport Stadium on June 27. The show featured reggae stars such as Shaggy, Bounty Killer and Morgan Heritage.

The woman, who asked not to be identified but said she knew Musah well, said he also used the name Charles King on occasion.

While police wouldn't confirm that Musah was a principal at Moonlight, they did identify him as a music promoter in the GTA, and said they are eager to talk to anyone who knew Musah, especially if it was through business channels.

Saunders said Musah might have had an event planned for later this week.

"Our investigation leads us to believe there was an event that was to take place on the Sunday coming up," Saunders said. "That's one of the reasons we are appealing to people who knew him in a business environment."

Residents near Lower Sherbourne Ave. and The Esplanade told police the white Hummer had often been seen in the area, but those reports weren't considered suspicious, Saunders said.

"This could be nothing more than our victim, who had a business associate in the area," he said.