A 17-year-old has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder, marking the third and final arrest in the May 20 stabbing death of a 21-year-old man from Leaf Rapids in Thompson, Manitoba.
Thompson RCMP officers on patrol spotted the youth on Nickel Road just before midnight on June 11. The teen was wanted in connection with the homicide that occurred in an open area off Princeton Drive in the Eastwood neighbourhood.
The two other suspects, 19-year-old Eternity Chastelaine and 24-year-old Marshall Merasty, were arrested without incident on June 9. Merasty and the 17-year-old both face second-degree murder charges, while Chastelaine is charged with manslaughter. All three are now in custody.
The victim, whose name has not been released by police, was from Leaf Rapids, a mining town about 217 kilometres north of Thompson. He was stabbed at around 2:20 a.m. on May 20 and died in hospital. The incident prompted a weeks-long search that included help from the Manitoba Integrated Violent Offender Apprehension Unit.
Because of his age, police needed a court order under the Youth Criminal Justice Act to publicly name the 17-year-old, citing concerns he posed a danger to others and that public identification was necessary to find him.
