BILLINGS BRIDGE HOMICIDE
Man charged in fatal stabbing
A man whose mother was killed in the 2013 fatal bus-train collision in Barrhaven has been charged with murder after a man was stabbed to death in a Walmart parking lot, the Citizen has learned.
Miles Krzyzewski, 25, appeared in court Monday afternoon via video and was formally charged with second-degree murder.
Police took Krzyzewski into custody Sunday night after receiving a 911 call around 10 p.m. to attend the Walmart at Billings Bridge Shopping Mall. Police believe Krzyzewski was inside the store, bloodied and screaming that someone was after him and that he needed a place to hide.
Officers were eventually led to Kalen Bryan-Bradley’s red Dodge sedan, where they found the bloodied and dead body of the 23-yearold in the back seat of his car.
Police arrested Krzyzewski and a woman, whom they also found inside Bryan-Bradley’s car. The woman was released without any charges.
Bryan-Bradley’s mother, Colleen Bryan, declined to speak to a reporter from her Manordale home Monday afternoon, but commented on a Facebook picture of her slain son that “He was the love of my life.”
Friend Ryan Shah posted that Bryan-Bradley, who was an only child, was like a brother to him.
“I’ll never forget our crazy adventures as kids. I haven’t cried like this in a long time. I hope you rest easy brother,” Shah wrote.
Shah told the Citizen that Kalen had a “good heart.” They became friends in elementary school after Kalen would make him laugh. “He will be missed by many.”
Bryan-Bradley, who is survived by his young son, had a criminal record for firearm offences and drug possession dating back to 2015.
Krzyzewski had already been scheduled to appear in court Monday on unrelated outstanding charges. This year, he was previously charged with three counts of theft and impaired driving. He had faced criminal charges in both 2010 and 2014, but those were all withdrawn. His last known address is listed in court records as the Ottawa Mission at 35 Waller St.
During his appearance Monday, beyond acknowledging the judge, he said nothing as he was formally charged with second-degree murder. Krzyzewski, who was released from hospital earlier in the day, appeared to have fresh scratches on his forehead as he stood under police guard. He had shortcropped dark hair and a trimmed beard.
Krzyzewski remains in jail. He is next scheduled to appear in court Friday. Defence lawyer Paolo Giancaterino said he looks forward to “vigorously defending our client at trial.”
Krzyzewski was just 21 when his mother was killed in the collision between an OC Transpo bus and Via Rail train in 2013 in Barrhaven that devastated the community and city. Karen Krzyzewski was one of six people killed in the collision. She was survived by Miles and his sister Natasha.
At the time of Karen’s death, her brother Paul Hussar said that their hearts had been torn in half.
“We now have a gaping hole in our tight-knit family,” he said at Karen’s funeral.
The minister who presided over her funeral made special mention of what he expected to be the lingering effects of a tragedy on Karen’s family: “The lives of this family will never again be the same.”
Bryan-Bradley ’s slaying was the city’s ninth homicide of 2018.