Second-degree murder charge laid in shooting death of Emmanuel Awai

A 26-year-old man wanted by police in connection to a shooting last spring in downtown London has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the December shooting death of a man at an east-end apartment building, city police said Thursday.

William Dwayne McDonald, of no fixed address, was located and arrested by London Police on Wednesday with assistance from the OPP Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) Squad, police said in a media release.

McDonald had been on the run from police since late April after authorities issued arrest warrants for him and another man, Samater Ali, 26, on charges of aggravated assault, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and discharge firearm with intent to wound/endanger life in relation to a shooting just off Richmond Row.

In that incident, officers located a man suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound in a parking lot behind Barney’s Bar and Grill around 2:23 a.m. on April 29.

The victim was rushed to hospital and survived the shooting, and Ali was apprehended by police in August, but the whereabouts of McDonald remained unknown, police said.

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Fast forward to Dec. 28 when officers were called to an apartment building at 135 Connaught Ave. around 10:20 p.m. following reports of an unresponsive man.

Upon arrival, officers located the body of Emmanuel Awai, 26, deceased of what an autopsy later determined was a gunshot wound. Police subsequently began a homicide investigation, the city’s fifth of 2016. No further information has been released in the case.

Police said McDonald will appear in court at a future date to answer to the charges, and anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact them at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).