Montreal police have announced an arrest in connection with the city’s eighth homicide of 2023.
At the request of the major crimes unit, Ontario Provincial Police arrested a 28-year-old man in Milton, in the Greater Toronto Area.
The man, from Brampton, Ont., was arrested in connection with the shooting death of 39-year-old Claudia Iacono on May 16, in a parking lot in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges borough.
Iacono was behind the wheel of her vehicle when she was shot. Her car ended up crashing into a nearby building.
Witnesses reported seeing someone fleeing the scene.
During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Montreal police confirmed the arrest and said first-degree murder charges had been laid, but offered few details into the shooting.
Jean-Sebastien Caron of the Major Crimes Unit wouldn’t confirm links to organized crime but said the man arrested is known to Canadian police services.
Iacono was married to Antonio Gallo, the son of the late Moreno Gallo, an important figure in the Montreal mafia. He was killed in Acapulco in 2013.
Caron would not speculate on a motive, nor would he say whether Iacono was the intended target of the brazen daylight shooting.
Police believe others may have been involved in the shooting.
The Crown prosecutor’s office says the case against Joel Richard Clarke returns to court on July 13.
— With files from The Canadian Press.