Family identify victim of Saskatoon's 16th homicide as Winston Littlecrow

On Saturday morning Winston Littlecrow was lying face-down on a sidewalk while his life poured out of a gunshot wound to his back.

People tried to save him.Even though he had sustained a life-threatening injury, he was still alive. Still coherent.

But by the time he was being loaded into the back of an ambulance, witnesses say he was "fading fast." The 35-year-old would be transported to hospital butdied as a result of his injuries, becoming Saskatoon's 16th homicide of 2019.

Now, family members are travelling across the province to be with one another and remember Littlecrow, who they remember as a kind person always looking out for his family.

"He never talked bad about anybody," said his younger sister, Flora Kinistino as she fought back tears in a phone interview.

"He always went around lifting people's spirits, not once did I hear him put down anybody."

Littlecrow's body was located at the corner of 23rd Street W. and Avenue X N in the city's Mount Royal neighbourhood and there's been no information released about suspects or arrests.

Kinistino said her older brother was also a father and said he always tried to be there for his kids the best he could.

Despite the fact that they were not super close over the last decade or so, she said she remembers how he would come to her rescue as a child, protecting her from bullies who "towered over" her on the playground.

Littlecrow was never one to stay a stranger, Kinistino explained, noting how her brother would always reach out to her a few times a year to say hello, check in on her and ask if she ever had any plans to move back to Saskatoon from Cumberland House.

"To me, my brother was my hero," she said. "Honestly, I just feel like he was just yanked away from me just as I was starting to reconnect with him."

Kinistino said it's her understanding her older brother was possibly involved in a gang when she was younger, but wasn't sure if he was a member or the name of the gang.

She noted however, to her, family always seemed to be the priority for Winston, as he'd always go out of his way to make sure his siblings were O.K. and was always trying to succeed in "his own little way."

"My brother had a hard life and he tried to make the most out of it," she said.

Aftergathering in Saskatoon, family members will start planning wake and burial services for Littlecrow.

Investigators from the Major Crimes Unit, Targeted Enforcement and Forensic Identification Units are involved in the investigation, which police said is ongoing on Sunday morning.

2019 has been a record year for homicides in the city. The previous record was set just last year when police investigated a total of 13 homicides.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Saskatoon police or Crime Stoppers to report the information anonymously.