City homicide numbers level with 2019

Edmonton’s current homicide count is nearly on par with last year, which ended with a total of 27 cases.

To date, there have been 17 homicides in Edmonton, with July being the deadliest month, when the number of cases hit five. So far this month, there have been three confirmed homicides. January and May each recorded two killings, and there were three in February. There was one homicide recorded in March and one in June.

Eight of the 17 homicides remain unsolved. The youngest homicide victim is seven and the oldest is 48.

Twelve of the victims so far this year have been male while five have been female. Police have charged seven people with second-degree murder and one person has been charged with first-degree murder.

The killing of Teresa Dejesus Esquivel-robles was labelled a murder-suicide after she was found slain in a home in July. Police searched for a truck in connection to her death, which was eventually found by Sicamous, B.C., RCMP on the Trans-canada Highway.

Luis Antonio Candela- Gonzalez was found dead near the vehicle. His death was not criminal.

The latest homicides occurred in early August. On Aug. 5, 38-yearold Tyler Lines died of bluntforce trauma near 119 Avenue and Wayne Gretzky Drive. The next day, 46-year-old Michael Podgorney and 26-year-old Riel Stamp were both stabbed to death in separate homicides. A 17-year-old has been charged with second-degree murder in Podgorney’s daytime killing on Stony Plain Road while 28-year-old Brett Cordelius Stamp, a distant relative of the Riel Stamp, is charged with first-degree murder in his killing.

Four victims were fatally shot while four others died of stab wounds. Three victims died of “sharp-force injuries,” according to the medical examiner, and one died of a blunt-force injury.

In four cases, police withheld the cause of death.

The cause of death for Lisa Arsenault, found slain in the Royal Lodge motel off Calgary Trail in May, has not yet been released as autopsy results are pending. Police are also grappling with a number of suspicious deaths this year. On May 9, Mohamed Amin Hassan Jama was found dead inside his apartment suite. An autopsy determined the 34-year-old’s injuries were suspicious and further medical testing was required.

On July 26, Gabriel Sunshine died after being found in an apartment with life-threatening injuries. An autopsy was completed but unable to determine how he died or what caused his death.

The homicide unit is also investigating a hit and run that left 31-year-old Rajan Baraich dead. Police believe there was an altercation prior to the hit and run in the area of 107 Avenue and 102 Street on June 25. Baraich’s death was deemed suspicious, but his cause of death has not been released.

Police continue to investigate those cases.

The Edmonton Police Service said they have seen a 27 per cent increase in violence compared to the city’s three-year average. The spike, police said, is driven largely by an increase in serious, violent assaults.

As of Aug. 16, 2019, there had been 19 homicides in Edmonton. Of those, 17 were men and two were women.