Second accused charged for shooting Sikh man to death in Canada
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Jun, 2023 05:26 PM
Toronto, June 21 (IANS) A second accused has been charged with first-degree murder in a New Year's Day shooting that left a 51-year-old Sikh father dead and his 21-year-old daughter injured in Canada.
Daqwan Roshayne Howard Lee, 28, was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and discharging a firearm with intent, Edmonton police said.
Police said Barinder Singh and his daughter were "innocent victims of a wrongly targeted crime".
Lee is the second person charged in the shooting, after Tevahn Orr, 31, who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, turned himself in to the Hamilton Police Service on March 21.
Orr was also charged with first degree murder, aggravated assault and discharging a firearm with intent.
On January 1, patrol officers responded to the report of a disturbance at a residence in the area of 16A Avenue and 38 Street.
Upon arrival, officers located an injured man and woman.
EMS responded, treated and transported Singh to hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The 21-year-old woman was also taken to hospital with serious, non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.
A week later, the Edmonton Medical Examiner completed an autopsy on Singh and determined the cause of death to be gunshot wounds.
The manner of death was homicide.
Singh had moved from Punjab to Edmonton in 2019 along with his family.
The family told Global News the four of them were asleep when the front door was smashed in and bullets began flying.
"Somebody broke into the house," said Singh's wife Jasjeet Kaur.
"We all were sleeping and there was a number of gunshots."It's all like a nightmare for us," a shattered Kaur had said earlier responding to the tragedy.
The visit comes amid unprecedented economic and military collaboration between the two countries. On Monday, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over a new law "that could be misused to interfere with Poland's free and fair elections."
At the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022, 175 nations agreed to launch talks to create a global plastics treaty to eliminate plastic waste by the end of 2024. There are three more rounds of talks guaranteed before then, and Guilbeault said Canada is going to host the next round about a year from now.
Sumrit Walia, 24, faces about 20 charges — including sexual interference with a minor, sexual exploitation as well as possessing, accessing and creating child pornography. His 56-year-old father, Gurpartap Singh Walia, is also charged with sexual assault, sexual interference with a minor and selling contraband tobacco.
152 Street between 72 Avenue and 68 Avenue has been closed in both directions to all traffic. Police are requesting people plan ahead, avoid the area and use alternate routes. It is unknown how long the closures will remain in effect.
A 39-year-old man, believed to be the driver, who is known to police was transported to Surrey RCMP cells and held in custody. Investigators confirmed that the vehicle was stolen from Coquitlam in November 2022.
Mounties say officers seized a firearm as well as 1.5 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine from a home while executing a search warrant last Friday.
