A 45-year-old man has been charged with manslaughter following Lethbridge’s first homicide of the year.
According to the Lethbridge Police Service, the victim was approached by a man at the intersection of 8 Street and 2A Avenue North just before 8:30 p.m. on the evening of May 5.
A verbal altercation took place and the victim, 44-year-old Amber Bahadur Khadka, was struck by the suspect and sustained life-threatening head injuries after hitting the ground, police said.
The man fled the area but was located and arrested by police that same evening.
Khadka was initially taken to Chinook Regional Hospital but was later transported to Calgary after his condition worsened. Police said he died on May 7.
An autopsy confirmed the death is the city’s first homicide of the year.
Lethbridge resident Sheldon Nicholas LePage has been charged with one count of manslaughter and one count each of failing to comply with a release order and failing to comply with a probation order.
Police determined that Khadka and LePage were known to each other and the altercation was a targeted incident. LePage is scheduled to appear in court on May 16.
Police confirmed to Global News the victim was previously charged with two counts of sexual assault and had a warrant out for his arrest prior to turning himself in on April 28.
The charges stem from an incident on April 25, when officers were called to the 600 block of 8 Street South just after 9 p.m., after a woman reported an unknown man sexually assaulted her while she was outside having a cigarette. The incident was recorded on a security camera.
During their investigation, LPS said a second woman had also been sexually assaulted, by who police believe is the same man, after she was approached along the 700 block of 5 Avenue South earlier in the evening. That incident was also captured through video surveillance.
The second victim has not come forward and police are concerned there are more victims.
Police could not say if the homicide and sexual assaults are in any way connected.