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a picture of Asher, taken by his younger sister, Dana, thirteen hours before his death November 16th, 2002 - January 31st, 2020
SOLVED
Asher Micheal Downs was a Canadian teenager who was raped and murdered by his friends.
Asher was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada. He was five when his parents died in a car crash, so he and his sister, Dana Lena Downs, who was three at the time, were raised by their paternal uncle and aunt by marriage, Oliver and Ellen Downs.
The two had relatively normal lives. In middle school, Asher would make friends with three boys, two of which who'd later become his killers; Calvin Freeman, Ronan Raymond and Zack Chen. They'd be good friends, spending time hanging out with them every chance he got. Oliver and Ellen had said they'd always had a gut feeling about the boys, specifically Ronan and Calvin, being trouble so to speak.
One time in September of 2019, when they let Dana tag along to Calvin's house, she said that when Asher went to the bathroom, Calvin and Ronan made advances towards her and tried to touch to her, making sexual comments about her. She didn't tell anyone until after Asher's death.
"I should've told him," Dana said in 2022 TikTok about her brother's death. "I should've told him that they'd tried to do that. Then he'd probably still be here. He would've stopped hanging out with them and then he wouldn't have been hanging out with them that night and he'd still be here and I wouldn't be making this video."
On Saturday, January 31st, 2020, Asher would go over to Calvin's house to hang out with Calvin, Ronan and Zack. He was planning on spending the night. But he didn't come back. Calvin called the Downs household, asking if Asher came home. Ellen said no, why?
What Calvin said was that the boys had gotten into a fight with him and he stormed out, saying he was going home. The Downs filed a missing person's report. Three days later, Asher's body was found in the woods by a hiker. Two hours away from Winnipeg, a bullet in the back of his head, and completely naked.
Asher was brought back home and buried. Calvin, Ronan and Zack were all questioned, but all were let go. The prevailing theory was that, while Asher was on his way home, someone offered him a ride or otherwise got them into their vehicle and kidnapped and killed him.
For a year, this case remained unsolved, until May 2021, when Zack called 911, saying what happened. Here's what really happened;
Calvin and Ronan suggested they go on a drive for a bit. Asher and Zack agreed and they drove off, no discernible destination in mind. After two hours, they found a trail, and, despite it being dark out, the boys decided to explore it and after roughly five minutes of walking, Ronan tackled Asher to the ground and began taking his pants off while Calvin held a gun to his head, telling him to stay quiet. Zach tried to help Asher but Calvin pointed the gun to his head telling him to shut up and keep lookout.
So, they stripped Asher naked and raped him all while Zack watched. After both finished, they shot him in the back of the head, killing him. On the way home, Calvin and Ronan threatened to kill Zach if he told anyone. When they got back to Calvin's, they raped Zach.
After this, Calvin and Ronan were arrested and pleaded guilty, though both refused to give any reason for the killing. They were both incarcerated.
