Four people have been arrested and charged in connection with the death of Tara Miller, a 37-year-old Calgary woman whose remains were found near Okotoks, Alta., on March 30, 2023.
The RCMP announced the charges on Monday morning and said all four of the accused were arrested on Jan. 18.
Miller’s remains were found in the area of Highway 522 and 128th Street near Okotoks.
Thirty-year-old Gurpreet Gill of Calgary has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and using a firearm in an indictable offence.
Gill was scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Monday.
Thirty-year-old Greg Schuster, also of Calgary, has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and accessory after the fact.
Schuster is scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Feb. 1.
Jared Burke, 24, of Wheatland County has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and using a firearm in an indictable offence.
Burke is scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Thursday.
Shyana Popplestone, 25, of Calgary has been charged with manslaughter.
Popplestone is scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Friday.
Garnita Van Tassell, Miller’s mother, spoke to Global News over the phone from her home in North Battleford, Sask., on Monday after RCMP announced the charges.
She said was contacted by investigators Friday who told her charges were coming, but she did not know what the charges were.
Van Tassell said she wanted to see more than just one person be charged with murder.
She added that she believes her daughter was left “on the road like a bag of garbage.”
Van Tassell said she plans to attend court proceedings for the accused once they begin.
When Van Tassell spoke to Global News in April, after learning police believed her daughter was the victim of a homicide, she told Global News that she remembers her daughter as “a free spirit.”
“She would help anybody with food or clothes or a place to sleep — she’d do anything for anybody. We loved her.”
In the spring, Van Tassell said her daughter had led a high-risk lifestyle and suffered from drug addiction, but had recently enrolled in online classes and was determined to turn her life around.
Jennifer Miller, Tara’s sister, also suggested her sister led a high-risk lifestyle and said Tara “had a long history of living on the streets.”
She said she was crushed when she learned Tara had died, knowing she would “never get back” someone who was so close to her.
“She was not just my little sister,” Jennifer said. “I had parental control of her (when she was young).”
Jennifer told Global News that at least one of the accused had at one point been her sister’s roommate.
Some of Tara’s friends also spoke to Global News on Monday after learning of the charges.
Keshia Plummer said she was happy to hear charges had been laid, “but again, it doesn’t change the fact that she’s not here.”
“She wasn’t even 40 years old and she had so much life to live.”
Another of Tara’s friends, Sonya Snow, said “whenever you needed her, she was there.”
“It didn’t matter what she was doing, drop of a hat she was there.”
— with files from Global News’ Sarah Offin and Jayme Doll