A Canadian man accused of killing a young Dawson Creek, B.C., woman while both were vacationing on the Mayan Riviera last year has been found not guilty by a Mexican court.
Kiara Agnew, 23, became the victim of a suspected femicide while on what was supposed to be a dream vacation with her boyfriend in March 2023.
“Words can’t describe how I feel,” Agnew’s mother Michele told Global News in an interview on Thursday. “I’m devastated.”
“We had so much evidence so we were in such disbelief that the justice system let us down this horribly,” added Kiara’s sister Tiana Agnew.
Kiara left Dawson Creek with her partner, whom Global News is not naming due to his acquittal, to celebrate her 24th birthday in Playa Del Carmen.
On March 3, 2023, Mexican police said she was found dead in a resort laundry room with “possible marks of violence.”
In a social media post at the time, the Mexican Secretariat of Public Security said Solidarity SSPyT police officers “insured (arrested) a person of foreign origin for the possible crime of femicide.”
On Friday, Global Affairs Canada said it is aware of a Canadian who was found not guilty of murder in Mexico but that it cannot disclose any more information due to privacy considerations.
Kiara’s family said Mexican prosecutors told them via WhatsApp that the suspect’s injuries did not correspond to those on the victim.
“Also, it was said that because of the brutality of her body and what she went through in her last moments that they determined that it was more than one person that did this to her,” Tiana told Global News.
According to the WhatsApp chat, the prosecution contact told Michele the judge considered that Kiara’s death was carried out by two or more people, because she was badly beaten, “And (the suspect) has no serious injuries. And in the genetics test, the genetic profiles of several people appear, including (the suspect’s).”
Kiara’s mother and sister said they both testified on Aug. 20 at the trial in Mexico.
When prosecutors asked her about alleged domestic abuse, Tiana Agnew said she told the court about her sister’s journal entries in the months before the murder – including an April 25, 2022 note in which Kiara detailed an encounter where her boyfriend had allegedly hurt her physically.
“Us telling them what happened before she got there helped paint a picture of what happened when they were in Mexico,” said Tiana.
Tiana said Kiara and her boyfriend had each lost a brother and had a toxic relationship bonded by trauma.
“Because of that, Kiara felt like he could understand her in ways that no one else could and that was the biggest reason why she stayed with him,” said Tiana.
“We’re left with a lot of unanswered questions,” said Kiara’s aunt Katlyn Levesque.
Mexican prosecutors will be appealing the verdict, according to their WhatsApp conversation with Michele which states: “The criminal judge issued a sentence of freedom. But the prosecution and legal counsel are going to appeal that sentence.”
The Agnew family said to this day, Kiara’s partner hasn’t provided them with any answers.
“It’s unbelievably frustrating,” said Tiana. “Because if he is innocent, why wouldn’t you have been saddened by your girlfriend being murdered, why wouldn’t you try to help her grieving family understand what happened,” she added.
“I want to know what happened, I have the right to know what happened to my first born,” said Michele. “I want to know the details of how this came about how this could come about at a resort.”