Suspect in Pointe-Claire homicide arrested in Ontario

The man who was fatally shot in the parking lot of a hotel in Pointe-Claire over the weekend was a drug dealer who once controlled the sale of crystal meth in a Montreal neighbourhood.

Tommy Dugas, 34, was killed Saturday afternoon after someone shot him at least once in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn where St-Jean Blvd. intersects Highway 40 in the West Island.

According to a release issued by the Montreal police on Thursday, Dugas was killed after having made arrangements to meet with someone to make a drug deal. After he was shot, at around 4:30 p.m., someone called 911 to report that a man was found unconscious in a hotel parking lot. Ambulance technicians tried to revive Dugas, but he was declared dead at the crime scene.

Jérôme Latham, 49, appeared before a judge at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday where he was charged with second-degree murder. He was ordered to remain detained, and his case returns to court on July 30.

The Montreal police stated in the release that they believe Latham and Dugas argued before the victim was shot. Latham, a resident of the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, was arrested on Tuesday in Ontario and was returned to Montreal.

His criminal record includes a conviction, in 1994, for breaking and entering. He was sentenced to a two-year prison term. Latham was also charged with an attempted murder carried out in Montreal during the summer of 1990, but he was acquitted of the charge in 1994.

Dugas had a very lengthy criminal record and recently finished serving a 38-month prison term that he received in 2014 for possessing drugs with the intent to traffic and conspiracy to traffic.

According to the written summary of a decision made by the Parole Board of Canada in 2016, Dugas “controlled the sale of crystal meth in a precise neighbourhood in Montreal.”

He also helped other drug dealers move drugs like cocaine and crack from one location to another.