François Sénécal, 51, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Océane Boyer.
Sénécal appeared in court on Friday morning at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
“We have evidence that it was premeditation,” Crown prosecutor Andréanne Marion said after the hearing, without elaborating.
Sénécal was arrested in Montreal after the 13-year-old’s body was found Wednesday by the side of a public road in Brownsburg-Chatham.
It seemed the young victim and the suspect knew each other.
The daughter of the accused, Alexandra Sénécal, couldn’t hold back tears as she spoke to reporters at the courthouse.
She explained both families had been friends for years and doesn’t understand how this could have happened.
“Océane liked him a lot,” Sénécal said of her dad. “She called him Uncle François.”
She recalled how Océane liked to hang out with her young daughter and even taught her to swim at her dad’s place.
Earlier Friday, Océane’s mother Caroline Sarrazin, confirmed on Facebook that Sénécal was a longtime friend of the family.
Alexandra said she spoke to the Boyer family at the courthouse and they offered her comfort.
“They told me what happened wasn’t my fault and that it wouldn’t change the ties we have,” she said. “I don’t know how he could have done this.”
After the hearing, Sarrazin appeared overcome with emotion and needed help leaving the courtroom.
“I have to get outside,” she could be heard saying.
Friends of the Boyer family attended the hearing on Friday to show their support.
Roger Louis Seize works at a campground in Rigaud, where the family spent time in the summers.
He remembered Océane as a happy girl who once spent a $100 gift she’d received on school clothes instead of toys.
“Océane was a little ball of love, that’s what she was” he said. “That girl was so full of enthusiasm, so full of love, everybody would come up to her.”
Meanhwile, the Rivière-du-Nord School Board (CSRDN) announced a support team will be deployed on Friday at École polyvalente Lavigne in Lachute, which Boyer attended.
According to the Canadian Press, the school board’s communications advisor Nadyne Brochu said assistance to students and school staff will be offered for as long as necessary to help the community get through this difficult time.
The school and school board have been in contact with the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the City of Lachute and the Integrated Health and Social Services Center (CISSS) in this matter.
The Lachute youth centre Boyer attended, Univers jeunesse Argenteuil, has also offered psychological support to adolescents since Thursday afternoon.
Quebec Premier François Legault reacted to the murder of the teen on social media Thursday.
“What a horrible drama. I am wholeheartedly with the parents, family and friends of the young Océane,” he wrote on Twitter.
Crown prosecutor Steve Baribeau said there is still more evidence to be disclosed to Sénécal’s lawyer. He did not say whether more charges would be added.
Sénécal will remain behind bars until his next court appearance scheduled for March 4. He is not allowed any contact with the victim’s family.
— With files from The Canadian Press