The man accused in a pair of stabbings that horrified the community of White Rock, B.C., has been charged with murder.
Dimitri Nelson Hyacinth was already facing one count of aggravated assault. On Friday, homicide investigators confirmed a count of second-degree murder has also been approved.
“These events have had a significant impact on a community,” Integrated Homicide Investigation Team Sgt. Timothy Pierotti said in a media release. “I hope that today’s announcement provides a further sense of relief to those who frequent the White Rock promenade.”
Hyacinth was scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
He is accused in two apparently random stabbings just 48 hours apart on the White Rock Promenade, one of them fatal.
The first incident happened around 9 p.m. April 21, as Jatinder Singh was sitting on a bench with his wife. He was approached from behind and stabbed in the neck, leaving him with a horrific injury.
Singh, who had only been in Canada for a few months before the attack, is expected to survive.
Two days later, around 9:15 p.m. on April 23, Kulwinder Singh Sohi was attacked in the same area of the promenade while sitting on a bench with a friend.
His brother told Global News Sohi was stabbed in the back and the heart. Police say he appears to have given chase to his attacker before he collapsed, and died at the scene.
The attacks left the beachside community shaken, and local businesses reported customers staying away from the area as the killer remained at large.
Police arrested Hyacinth in Surrey on Monday.
Police are still looking for witnesses and video from the promenade, east of the pier near the parking lot adjacent to the Grand Chief Bernard Robert Charles (Pa-Kwach-Tun) Memorial Plaza or driving on Marine Drive on April 23, 2024, between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Anyone with information is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.