Mother of murder victim blames drugs and drug culture for her son’s 2023 killing

Renfrew – “There was a knock on my door at 3:30 a.m. and right away I knew something was wrong and when I opened my door and saw the two police officers and one asked if I was Catherine Logan and I said yes…what the **** has he done now?”
Catherine Logan said she will never forget the horror and despair she felt in the early morning hours of May 20, 2023 when two members of the Renfrew Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), brought the devastating news that her only son, Jonathan Logan, died earlier in the evening as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
Woken from a deep sleep, she was at first confused why the police were at her door and it took more than a minute for her to understand what they were saying.
“I was thinking to myself ‘what has Jonathan done and who did he hurt’,” she said. “The police came inside my apartment and said they were very sorry to inform me that Jonathan was dead as a result of gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead at the Renfrew (Victoria) Hospital.”
Ms. Logan said after they delivered the news her mind “shut down” and all she could say was “no, no, no” over and over again. The officers asked if there was someone they could contact for support and all she wanted was to be alone to try and process the information the police told her.
“All I wanted to do was scream at them to get the hell out of my house and I just wanted them gone,” she said holding back tears. “I just sat in my corner chair and stared out the window or the fireplace and all I could do was cry and ask myself why. I was unable to do anything for the next few hours.”
Lifelong Battles With Addiction
As the mother of only one child, she was well aware of his personal demons and how he, like so many others in Renfrew County, was not strong enough at times to battle his addiction to illegal narcotics.
As a teenager he took up smoking around the age of 13 years and soon turned to alcohol and that became an issue. He used cannabis for several years until he turned to various narcotics such as crack and cocaine.
“That is where he hit rock bottom,” she said. “Over the course of a few years the drugs controlled his life and like so many addicts, he struggled day-to-day and when he couldn’t make ends meet, he turned to robbery and stealing from homes. He would break in and steal drugs and items from fellow addicts and it just went round and round.”
Ms. Logan said on two separate occasions, Jonathan moved to Elliot Lake and managed to get himself clean for a few years.

“Although I told him he should not return to Renfrew, he did and then he would fall in with old acquaintances and he eventually fell back into the depths of addiction,” she said.

She said many young adults like Jonathan can become clean and sober, but have trouble holding down a job. In an area like Renfrew County, which has one of the lowest employment rates in Ontario, the prospects of a fulltime and long-term job are few and far between. She said that leads to a sense of helplessness and despair and for those who use drugs. Then, they begin dealing drugs.
“These kids are often homeless or in between homes and have a criminal record and who wants to hire somebody with a criminal record for dealing drugs or theft,” she said. “Selling drugs is an easy way to make quick money. But for those like Jonathan who spend their lives battling their addictions, the sudden exposure to a wide variety of drugs leads them to start sampling and from there it is all downhill until something bad happens.
“Jonathan struggled over the years and battled addiction. There were times the drugs took over his life and that is when he met up with others who routinely did drugs and eventually they would find themselves either in court or in jail,” Ms. Logan told the Leader. “I always dreaded that Jonathan might eventually end up getting caught again selling drugs and when it happens, he would be going to jail. But for him to be murdered…that was the farthest thing from my mind.”
Ms. Logan said although her son was never diagnosed with a specific disability, she believes he was bi-polar due to his erratic mood swings. Other family members were diagnosed as bi-polar or other forms of mental illness.
Although she encouraged him to seek medical assistance to determine if there were signs of mental illness, he resisted. Realizing she could not force him, she was hopeful he would seek out medical assistance on his own.
“Anyone who truly knew Jonathan knew that deep down he had a good heart and even when he was down on his luck with little food or money, he would gladly help somebody out who was going through the same thing. He was troubled as a young boy and being smaller than most kids and also being legally blind in one eye, the odds were against him at the beginning but never in a million years did I think his life would end like that.
“The night before he was murdered, he was on the phone trying to get a hold of his girlfriend. He was very anxious and was pacing back and forth in my apartment and I knew he was getting desperate. He was at a point that night where on one hand he said it was time to get cleaned up, but his addiction was so strong that he wanted to go see his girlfriend for his next hit.”
He told me he was trying to get his life under control and that included seeking help for his addiction. When he left my apartment on that Thursday night, I told him I loved him, I would be here for him, and to stay out of trouble. That was the last time I ever saw Jonathan. The next night he was murdered and his killer is still out there.”
After reliving the worst night of her life with this reporter, Ms. Logan broke down in tears in her quiet apartment and stared at the photograph of her son and her granddaughter. She has asked that Jonathan’s daughter not be identified as she is still confused about her father’s death. Ms. Logan said that although her granddaughter is going on 12, this tragedy altered her life, but still she brings happiness and optimism when they are together.
“Jonathan had a troubled and hard life and he made plenty of mistakes, but one thing he did was bring a beautiful girl into the world and for that I am grateful. But I am still angry and frustrated there has been not a single word from the investigators. I had detectives look me straight in the eye and told me they would find Jonathan’s killer. It has been a year and the silence is deafening and still no results to the best of my knowledge.”
Murder Remains Unsolved
The events of the evening of Friday May 19, 2023 are still shrouded in mystery. It was the beginning of the Victoria Day Weekend and there was a heavy rainfall in Renfrew. The Vimy Boulevard housing complex was quiet as the heavy rains kept most residents inside.
The official police record states that around 10:30 p.m., an unidentified individual (or individuals) entered a townhouse located on Vimy Boulevard in Renfrew. Once inside, Mr. Logan was shot multiple times. No other individuals inside the home were shot.

Someone placed a 911 call and a few minutes later paramedics arrived on scene and immediately began critical life-saving measures. They quickly loaded him into an ambulance and transported him to the Renfrew Victoria Hospital where he was soon pronounced dead.
Mr. Logan’s murder was the first murder recorded in Renfrew in 2023. Police investigators said it was a targeted killing and Jonathan was the target. Several OPP officers canvassed the neighbourhood and residents were asked to remain indoors. Although there was a very heavy police presence in the town and a large manhunt took place over the next week in both Renfrew and surrounding area, the assailant(s) were never caught and to this day, remain at large.

Mr. Logan’s body was transferred to Ottawa for an autopsy and was cremated soon after.

“The police came to my door five hours after my son was murdered to tell me the news. I never got to see him or say goodbye to my only child before he was cremated,” she said.
The strangest aspect of this case is that a similar crime took place in Pembroke during the same Victoria Day Weekend. Noah Nathaniel Annis and Alando Omario Davidson, both 16 and from Mississauga, were shot to death on May 22, 2023. A third 16-year-old, also from Mississauga, was seriously injured in the shooting. At the time, police investigators said the assaults were deliberate and targeted.
Both at the time of the murders and today, police insist the murders in Renfrew and Pembroke over the same weekend were not linked. In Pembroke, Zacharie Robert Lamoureux, 21, was taken into custody last summer for the murders and is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. The second suspect, a 17-year-old, was arrested in January of this year and is charged with two counts of first degree murder and attempt to commit murder.
Following the Pembroke arrests, Ms. Logan again called the police for an update and was given the same answer she always gets when an inquiry is made.

“They told me they were looking and following any leads but they had nothing new they could share with me,” she said. This has led her to make some of her own conclusions.
“I am frustrated with how the investigation into Jonathan’s murder has gone nowhere, and there is no information being provided. Just last month (May 23) there was another overdose death in the same housing complex and once again the same woman was involved and present at both deaths. Skyler Eady overdosed on something and when paramedics arrived, they started life-saving measures, but eventually he died.
“Don’t you think it’s a little too much of a coincidence that two men died at the same housing complex, almost one year apart and the same woman was present both times?” she asked. “I don’t buy it. The same woman is directly involved in their deaths. She was Jonathan’s girlfriend and the last time I saw Jonathan, he was worried about something happening to him.
"He said he was in trouble for something he did not do."
When the 911 call was placed for Skylar Eady, Jonathan’s girlfriend was once again present for both tragedies. I am not sure who placed the 911 for Jonathan, but it came from a residence where he and his girlfriend regularly frequented.”
Residents Fearful of Retaliation
In June 2023, some residents who live at the Renfrew County Housing Corporation (RCHC) complex on Vimy Boulevard gathered outside the RCHC administrative offices on O’Brien Road demanding the county take some action to clear out the drug dealers. Several residents stated the unit is well known by the tenants, the police and drug users as a drug trafficking location.
One resident told the Leader at the time he had a video surveillance system installed and it regularly records people coming and going at all hours.
Requesting anonymity for fear of retaliation, he said his cameras routinely record people who are quite impaired walking around and dropping needles and other forms of drug paraphernalia.
He said residents are fearful for their own personal safety and the safety of young children who reside there. He said residents are also fearful of retaliation from those involved in the drug trade.
There is a general consensus among the Vimy residents that alleges Mr. Logan’s former girlfriend is connected to the main drug dealer in the complex. All these allegations are unproven.

Ironically, he asked at the time how many more tragedies need to take place before some action is taken either by the police or the housing corporation to clear out the drug dealers.
Ms. Logan is also asking questions about what will happen next.
“What is it going to take to bring someone to justice for my son’s murder?” Ms. Logan asked. “Jonathan made mistakes and he let people down as he struggled with addiction. He admitted to me he used to deliver drugs for the dealers out of the Vimy complex at various times, but he told me that was then and at that point in time, he was just using and not involved in whatever drug deals were being made.

“He knew it was time to try and change his life and he was trying to get clean. But that means nothing as someone murdered my son. The police are waiting for somebody to come forward with information. Why don’t the police shut down that drug house, arrest whoever is inside for drug dealing and let me, along with Skylar's Eady’s family, and everyone who loved Jon and Skylar, go on with our lives.

“As long as there are drug dealers like the ones on Vimy and anywhere else in Renfrew, there will be more deaths and more broken lives. Family members like myself will be left behind as we struggle to live and make it through each day hoping no other parent gets a knock at the door at 3:30 a.m. ”

Bruce McIntyre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eganville Leader