Second homicide shakes Dartmouth residents
Fear and anxiety grip a Dartmouth neighbourhood where a man and woman were killed in separate attacks in the past few days.
“The question that I am getting asked is that is it safe,” said Tony Mancini, the councillor whose district covers the Highfield Park area where the killings took place. “Is my kid going to be all right to walk to school, to the community centre? I really understand that concern.
“Two homicides in a couple of days has really shaken the community. I was there yesterday afternoon and talking to some community leaders and just going out and speaking to some residents. It’s a community that a lot of people know each other. There are a lot of connections. They are really hurting.”
Halifax Regional Police confirmed Tuesday that the second death was a homicide and identified the victim as Deborah Irene Yorke, 63, of Dartmouth. She was found dead inside a fourthfloor apartment at 3 Farthington Place after police responded to a call at 4:08 a.m. on Sunday.
About 36 hours earlier, police were called to an apartment building on Pincecrest Drive, a couple of blocks from the Farthington Place apartment building. The body of Derek Miles, 42, was found at the Pinecrest Drive location on Friday at 4:25 p.m.
“The investigators have no evidence to suggest that they are connected but they are certainly not ruling that out,” said Const. Carol Mcisaac. “Of course, they want anybody who has any information to contact us in relation to either homicide.”
Mancini said it’s a “real tough” situation.
“I do believe it is safe. These two situations are not random and not believed to be connected. We have been doing a lot of work over the years there to continue to make it safer, making sure that pathways are clean and bright and that bush is cut back. Community policing is well-entrenched in there. There is a lot of work we have done to get to the core of violent crime.”
Meanwhile, community leaders are discussing an antiviolence march, Mancini said, and he would like to arrange a community town hall meeting, where “residents can come out and talk to police and talk to other leaders and hear their concerns.”
Mancini said the two deaths are very concerning and unfortunate because crime statistics are down in the area.