A man was shot multiple times at the corner of Saint-Denis and Bellechasse streets in Montreal's Little Italy neighborhood early last night. According to our information, the victim is Brandon Jean Célestin, 29, one of the brothers of major Montreal gang leader Jean-Philippe Célestin.
Published at 7:08 am. Updated at 9:31 a.m
“According to witnesses, the suspects were in a vehicle and opened fire on the victim, who was walking on the sidewalk. It collapsed in a parking lot on the corner of Rue de Bellechasse and Rue Saint-Denis. When the police were called to the scene, they performed resuscitation maneuvers in vain and death was pronounced immediately,” explains officer Véronique Dubuc, spokesperson for the Montreal Police Department.
The suspect(s) fled before police arrived.
According to some media, the victim had just left a family event, although this was not confirmed by police.
The investigation has been entrusted to SPVM Major Crimes detectives, whose first tasks will include meeting with witnesses and viewing images captured by surveillance cameras in the area.
Confidant of his brother
Brandon Jean Célestin had an active case of threats, assault and obstruction in court dating back to 2022.
But according to police, Brandon Jean Célestin managed the drug trade in the city center on behalf of his brother.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Brandon Jean Célestin, far right, during the viewing of the remains of Gregory Woolley at the Loreto Funeral Complex, owned by the Rizzuto family, last fall.
According to police, Jean-Philippe Célestin was one of the right-hand men of Gregory Woolley, the influential gang leader who was murdered in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu last November.
Célestin and his group were also well represented at Woolley's funeral last fall.
The police believe Célestin is a gang leader on behalf of the Sicilian Montreal Mafia clan and its associates.
One of Célestin's deputies, Nitchell Lapaix, was assassinated in August 2021 and following this assassination attempt, members of Célestin's group were informed by police that their lives could be in danger.
According to police, Jean-Philippe Célestin continues to control drug trafficking in certain areas of Montreal, particularly the gay district and entertainment district.
At least at times he is said to have been involved in the delivery of drones to prisons.
In December 2017, Jean-Philippe Célestin was sentenced to 69 months in prison – with 21 months remaining to serve – after he was arrested as part of an SPVM investigation aimed at dismantling a network of drug traffickers operating in the city center operated from Montreal.
Célestin has connections to blue street gangs and was part of a gang called the K-Crew in the early 2000s.
“We're probably attacking Gregory Woolley's organization. There will be others. It is not the end, it is a beginning,” analyzed an observer specialized in organized crime in Montreal, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The environment in the reorganization
Last December, Jean-Philippe Célestin's apartment was searched as part of a comprehensive investigation by the SPVM and the SQ into the revelations of former organized crime hitman Frédérick Silva.
These revelations could allow police to solve 65 murders and attempted murders committed since the mid-1990s.
At least two people subject to this extensive investigation have been shot in recent months: Gregory Woolley and Samy Tamouro, who were murdered at a fitness center in Mexico in mid-December.
PRESS PHOTO ARCHIVE
Gregory Woolley, in 2013
These murders are not necessarily related to the current investigation, but since the investigation began, there appears to be a shakeup in the world of organized crime in Montreal.
The murder of Brandon Jean Célestin is the sixth of the year in Montreal – the fourth by a gunshot – while last year there was only one murder on the same day in the metropolis.
To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to La Presse's mailing address.