The triple murder of a mother and her two teenage daughters in Brockville, Ont., is an “unspeakable” tragedy, the city’s mayor said Friday after the arrest of a 17-year-old boy who was in a relationship with one of the teen victims.
The accused is facing first-degree murder charges after the 49-year-old woman and her daughters, aged 15 and 17, were found dead inside a home in the border city’s north end on Thursday.
It’s believed to be a case of intimate partner violence because of the accused’s relationship with one of the daughters, Insp. Darryl Boyd said at a press conference on Friday.
“We have not had anything of this scale in my career that I’ve seen and nothing that I can recall previous to that,” he said. “The last murder investigation that we had was several years ago.”
Police believe a knife was used in the murders, but investigators are still processing the crime scene on Cartier Court to understand “the totality of what took place,” Boyd said.
After the victims were found dead, investigators received information that led them to the city’s outskirts, where the suspect was arrested following a physical altercation, police said.
The teenager has also been charged with assaulting a police officer, though no one suffered “lasting injuries” during the arrest, Boyd said.
While police have confirmed the murders were not random, Boyd said investigators are still working to determine a motive.
The suspect appeared in court for a bail hearing on Friday and will remain in custody, police said. He cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
“This investigation is very sensitive and complex,” Boyd said. “The incident has a profound impact on the families, loved ones, friends, students in our schools and our community as a whole.”
Outside the crime scene, an apartment building that police cordoned off with yellow tape, a group of neighbours gathered on Friday to place a bouquet of flowers.
Bev Stanzel, the assistant residence manager for several units in the area, said the family was well-loved in the community and that everyone in the neighbourhood knew them.
“We watched the kids grow up,” she said. “It’s rough for everybody in this little community.”
Stanzel said the husband of the murdered woman works in Toronto and wasn’t home when the incident took place.
Boyd told reporters that Brockville is a “tight-knit community” and he hopes residents show all families involved “the empathy that they deserve” as police continue to investigate.
He said murders are rare in the city of approximately 23,000 people.
Brockville Mayor Matt Wren said in a statement that many residents have been left shaken by this “unspeakable tragedy.”
“Brockville is, at its core, a strong and caring community. We have always pulled together in times of hardship, and we must do so again as we navigate this immense grief,” he wrote.
Wren also noted the murders underscore a painful reality for women, many of whom “face violence in their lives,” and urged those who need support to reach out to places like Interval House, an emergency shelter for women and children fleeing violence.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the province is working with local police as they investigate this “terrible event.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the community and everyone impacted by the senseless violence,” he said at an unrelated press conference on Friday.