Police confirm cause of death for 16-year-old homicide victim

Police confirmed that the teen victim of a homicide last week was killed by blunt force trauma.

Thunder Bay Police Service officials released the results of a post-mortem examination Monday of a 16-year-old girl killed near the County Park area. The results indicate that the victim suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries.
 
On Wednesday, Sept. 22, police announced that officers charged two girls, a 14-year-old and 15-year-old, with second-degree murder in connection with the death of the 16-year-old victim.

A passerby discovered the body of the Sachigo Lake girl the morning before the arrests in the woods adjacent to a recreational path in the County Park area. Police immediately ruled it a homicide, the city’s fourth of 2010 and its third in September alone.

Det.-Insp. Phil Levesque of the Thunder Bay Police Service said last week that police spoke with friends and family, which led them to the two girls late Tuesday afternoon. Police learned the two suspects knew the victim for a short period, but didn’t attend the same high school. The victim was still looking to enrol, he said.

"They weren’t complete strangers and they had been socializing together," Levesque said. "Given the age of the persons involved it really puts the focus on how tragic this event is. And the fact that, particularly in other homicides, there is an alcohol factor involved it really sheds light on the problems within our community and communities across the country with substance abuse."

Police believe alcohol may have been a factor.

Police said they will not release the victim's name at this time because she is a youth.

The teen suspects appeared in video court last week. The names of the suspects are being withheld in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act.