A man has been charged with murder after the body of a woman was found following a house fire in Yellow Grass, Sask.
Abbie Speir, 33, was found dead in the home following the Thursday evening fire.
Milestone RCMP called her death suspicious but have not releasedthe cause of death.
READ MORE: Woman’s death in Yellow Grass, Sask. called suspicious by police
Kevin Obina Okafor, 38, was arrested the same evening in the Swift Current area.
He was spotted heading westbound on Highway 1 near Swift Current and refused to stop for police.
A spike belt was successfully deployed, causing the truck to enter a ditch and flip on its side.
Okafor was then taken into custody.
He has been charged with first-degree murder, flight from a peace officer and dangerous driving.
RCMP said Speir and Okafor were known to each other.
Okafor is scheduled to appear Monday morning in Regina provincial court.
Yellow Grass is approximately 90 kilometres southeast of Regina.
An obituary posted on Facebook by Speir’s twin sister Leah Perrault on Sunday said motherhood was Speir’s “greatest joy,” and that she took her three kids on grand adventures and insisted on hard work and good manners.
“Abbie brought a small-town love of people, deep loyalty, and unapologetic honesty with a sarcastic sense of humour,” Perrault said in the post.
“She was intense and strong, and everyone loved her for it.”
According to the post, Speir was born in Saskatoon in 1983. She attended school in Elrose, Sask. then went on to study business in Calgary before returning to Saskatchewan. She worked in the Saskatoon and Sun Country Health Regions. Perrault’s post said Speir was active in piano, volleyball, 4-H and figure skating during her school years.
Speir married in 2004 and had a son in 2007. She lived outside Kindersley, then Dundurn before moving to Saskatoon.
Before the birth of her daughter in Saskatoon 2014, Speir spent time in Calgary. She had another daughter in 2015, the same year the family moved to Yellow Grass.
A funeral for Speir will be held at 3 p.m. on April 29 at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon. Memorial donations for Speir’s children can be made at TCU Credit Unions in Regina or Saskatoon or by email transfer to memoriesofabbie@gmail.com.
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