3 Men Arrested in Connection to Killing of Tina Fontaine’s Cousin

Jeanenne Chantel Fontaine died after being shot and being exposed to a fire on March 14. Three people have been arrested in connection to the homicide. Winnipeg Police Service Handout

Global News | May 17, 2017

Three men have been charged in connection to the death of Jeanenne Fontaine, 29, who was found shot in the head in a North End home in March.

Fontaine is the cousin of Tina Fontaine, the teenage girl whose body was found wrapped in a bag in the Red River in August 2014.

On March 14 at 9:45 a.m., police were called to a house fire 400 block of Aberdeen Avenue. Crews found Fontaine in the house and she taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries where she later died.

Fontaine was shot in the head before the fire began, police said.

Investigators also determined the fire was deliberately set.

On May 16, homicide investigators went to the Provincial remand Centre and arrested three men in connection to her death.

Christopher Mathew Brass, 34, has been charged with manslaughter and arson disregard for human life. Malcolm Miles Mitchell, 24, has been charged with second-degree murder and arson disregard for human life. Jason Michael Meilleur, 38, has been charged with manslaughter.

All three are in custody.

Brass was also arrested and charged in connection to another homicide that happened in February.

On Feb. 8, Bryer James Prysiazniuk-Settee, 24, was found shot in the area of Powers Street and Aberdeen Avenue. He was taken to hospital in critical condition and later died.

Brass has been charged with second-degree murder.

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Brett Overby Charged with Second Degree Murder in Christine Wood Homicide, Body Still Missing

Christine Wood, 21, disappeared after she went out with friends for the evening on Aug. 19, 2016. (File Image)

Police believe Christine Wood killed hours after going missing

By Black Powder | RPM Staff, April 10, 2017

Days after police charged a Winnipeg man with second-degree murder in the disappearance of Christine Wood, officers said they still have not found her body.

According to Global News, on Saturday, Brett Overby, 30, was charged with the murder of Christine Wood, 21. Documents also allege Wood was killed on or around Aug. 20 – the day after she went missing.

On Aug. 19, after going out that evening, Wood from Oxford House First Nation, never returned to the hotel where her family was staying after coming to Winnipeg for a medical appointment.

The case was treated at a missing person’s investigation until January 2017, when the homicide unit took over as lead investigators.

Overby, was arrested March 21 after police searched a home in the 300 block of Burrows Ave. At the time, he was charged with an unrelated offence.

CTV News reports, Winnipeg Police Service Sergeant John O’Donovan said officers ended up at that home as a result of information from a number of warrants and production orders on electronic devices Wood used prior to her death.

The Forensic Identification Unit stayed at the home for several days.

Overby, was questioned, but he was let go as there wasn’t enough forensic evidence to lay any charges.

Brett Overby, 30, was charged with the murder of Christine Wood, 21. Instagram. Source Global News

On April 6, forensics tests came back and the following day the Crown Attorney authorized a second degree murder charge against Overby.

Police were able to provide evidence to the Crown’s office that Wood, not only was she present, but she was killed in that house.

Although police believe Wood was killed in Overby’s home, they do not have any information from the accused on where her body is.

During a media conference Monday, Police Chief Danny Smyth said “We will continue on this investigation until we find her remains.”

In September the police said there were “multiple sightings of Wood.” They also said she was was facing some “personal challenges” and may be associated with people tied to drug trade.

However, police now say, they do not believe drugs or gang affiliations are involved.

Police also say the accused and Wood were unknown to one another prior to Aug. 19 and it does not appear there was a relationship between them.

Winnipeg police press conference concerning Christine Wood, Monday.

Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson was at the media conference speaking on behalf of Wood’s family.

“After the most difficult eight months of our lives, we are mourning the loss of our daughter,” North Wilson said in a statement written by Wood’s family.

The family will be in Winnipeg for a vigil on Wednesday.

Tina Fontaine’s Cousin Dies after Being Shot in Head, Home Set on Fire, Family Says

Family of Aberdeen fire victim speaks out

Family pleads for information in death of 29-year-old Jeanenne Fontaine

CBC News Posted: Mar 15, 2017

A Winnipeg woman was shot in the head before her home was set on fire, her family says.

Jeanenne Fontaine, 29, was found in a home on Aberdeen Avenue, between Powers Street and Salter Street, on Tuesday after reports of a fire which is now being investigated by the homicide unit.

Jeanenne Fontaine, 29, was a kind, bubbly mother of three, says aunt Rhonda Flett. (Facebook)

The mother of three was rushed to hospital in unstable condition, but around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday she was taken off life-support, her family says.

They say Jeanenne was shot in the back of the head before the home was set on fire.

Her mother, Lana Fontaine, says Jeanenne’s brother was also at the home and heard the gunshot, but escaped unharmed.

The family is pleading for anyone with information to come forward to help them get answers.

Kind, full of laughter

Rhonda Flett, Jeanenne’s aunt, says her niece was a bright-spirited girl.

“She was a lively, beautiful Native girl … everybody wanted to be around her. She was kind. She liked to laugh. She made us laugh,” Flett said.

“She’s going to very missed. We’re going to miss her a lot. A piece of our family got taken and can’t be replaced.”

Flett says her niece moved into the home on Aberdeen Avenue following the death of Flett’s other niece and Jeanenne’s cousin, Tina Fontaine.

The 15-year-old was killed in August of 2014. Her death became one of the most well-known cases of murdered Indigenous women in the country, at a time many were calling for a national inquiry into unsolved cases.

Jeanenne shared the Aberdeen home with her mother, Lana, who Rhonda says is now homeless.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Lana Fontaine.

“She has nothing. She has no clothes, no furniture, nothing. She has nowhere to go,” Flett said. “All she’s concentrating on right now is her daughter.”

Flett said the family is desperate for answers.

“If anybody had answers out there for us, please come forward,” Flett said. “Our family needs closure. We’ve been through enough with Tina.”

Winnipeg police are asking anyone with information about the fire is asked to call police at 204-786-8477.

Jeanenne Fontaine was found at this home on Aberdeen Avenue on Tuesday. (Travis Golby/CBC)

Vigil planned for Saturday

Jeanenne’s death is the second time an Indigenous woman was shot and killed in Winnipeg in the past three days.

On Sunday, Shania Chartrand, 21, was shot and later died of her injuries. The young woman was from Lake Manitoba First Nation and Chief Cornell McLean said her death devastated the community.

RELATED: 

• Family of Lake Manitoba Woman Shot in West Broadway Devastated, Chief Says

Kim Kostiuk, a volunteer with Drag the Red, said she was shocked and heartbroken at the pair of deaths and the news Jeanenne was related to Tina Fontaine. She’s organizing a vigil for Jeanenne on Saturday at the Aberdeen home.

Kim Kostiuk says she’s shocked and heartbroken by two deaths of Indigenous women in three days in Winnipeg. (Facebook)

“We want this to be out there. We want this to stop. We need this violence to stop,” Kostiuk said. “…We are human beings just like everybody else. We don’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this.”

Kostiuk said women in her community no longer feel safe and she wants to see change.

“We need more resources, for certain. We need more women’s shelters, definitely. More addictions programs,” she said.

“We need to do more marches to support women. We need to put it out there in the community. We need to do these vigils to let people know that we need to take back what is rightfully ours: the community. We need to stand up and say let’s stop this violence, we’ve had enough.

With files from Courtney Rutherford, Caroline Barghout

[SOURCE]

Family of Lake Manitoba Woman Shot in West Broadway Devastated, Chief Says

Winnipeg police say Shania Chartrand, 21, died after being shot in West Broadway over the weekend. She is from Lake Manitoba First Nation, and Chief Cornell McLean says her death has left the community devastated. (Facebook)

Shania Chanel Chartrand, 21, died after being found shot on Spence Street Sunday night

CBC News: Mar 15, 2017

Members of Lake Manitoba First Nation are devastated after the killing of a woman from the community in Winnipeg last weekend, the First Nation’s chief says.

Shania Chanel Chartrand, 21, was taken to hospital after being found in West Broadway with gunshot wounds Sunday night, but died of her injuries.

“She’s been taken too soon by this tragic event,” Lake Manitoba Chief Cornell McLean said.

“I’m devastated myself for the community. She touched a lot of hearts.”

Police investigate the homicide scene on Spence Street on Monday morning. (CBC)

McLean said Chartrand came from a large Lake Manitoba First Nation family.

“She was the second youngest child … It’s been very hard on the family,” he said.

McLean said Chartrand was living in Winnipeg and he often gave her rides to the city after she came back to Lake Manitoba to visit her family.

He said while there are rumours swirling about what may have happened to her, there are still more questions than answers.

“I know that she wasn’t involved in any gang activity. I do know that for sure,” Mclean said.

“It could have just been wrong place wrong time for her,” McLean said.

After reports of gunshots in the area, police located Chartrand on Spence Street, between Portage Avenue and Broadway, just after 10 p.m. Sunday night.

There haven’t been any arrests related to the shooting yet.

Homicide investigators are asking anyone with information or surveillance video to contact them at 204-986-6508 or through Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

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Suspect charged in connection with homicide of Ramsey Whitefish

Ramsey Whitefish leaves College Park Court in 2004 after the two police officers accused of assaulting him were acquitted. (TONY BOCK / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

By Black Powder | Red Power Media, Staff, May 20, 2016

Toronto police have identified an Indigenous man found dead in Toronto’s Church-Wellesley Village earlier this week as 42-year-old Ramsey Whitefish.

According to a news release, on Wednesday, at 12:04 a.m., police responded to an unknown trouble call in the Yonge Street and Gloucester Street area. Upon arrival, police located Whitefish with obvious signs of physical trauma. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

The Toronto Star reports, that for some two decades, since arriving in Toronto from a reserve in the Turtle Island area — Whitefish who was part Sioux, part Ojibway — had been among the city’s chronically homeless. He suffered from alcoholism and other addictions.

The last two years Whitefish had been living in a downtown transition residence for people struggling to find permanent housing.

Toronto police are shown at the scene of a suspicious death investigation on Gloucester Street near Yonge Street early Wednesday morning.

In recent weeks, he was sharing a room on Gloucester Street with a man who’d moved in two months ago. Whitefish was found injured near the rooming house he was living in. Police had been called to the residence within the last 48 hours regarding a disturbance between Whitefish and his roommate.

Homicide investigators believe Whitefish was attacked by his roommate. A rock found at the scene – roughly the size of a bowling ball – is believed to have been used in the assault.

Police arrested the roommate after investigators learned that he was appearing for court at Old City Hall on another matter, Wednesday morning.

Trevor Severin, 24, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Severin, appeared in mental health court on Thursday, and was determined to be mentally unfit for the proceeding. A treatment order was issued for psychiatric assessment, with a next court date of June 24.

No family member has yet come forward to claim Whitefish’s body. But there are plans to hold a sending-home ceremony for him.

Whitefish is Toronto’s 30th homicide this year.