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Homicide leaves family reeling

Attack in back lane claims man, 31

By: Gabrielle Giroday

Friday, May. 18, 2012 at 9:44 AM | Comments: 0

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Police at the crime scene in the back lane of the 600 block of Sargent Avenue Thursday morning.

A brutal killing in Winnipeg on Thursday left blood spilled across a back alley and a family grieving for one of their own.

Enlarge Image

Police work at crime scene. (WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Relatives of Clarence Ross, 31, said they were reeling from the death of the young man, who was attacked in a Sargent Avenue back alley near Sherbrook Street.

At about 12:21 a.m., emergency officials rushed to the alley, which runs along the south side of Sargent behind a supermarket.

Police didn't identify the motive for the attack, but what happened left a messy scene that was scrutinized carefully by a forensics officer early Friday. A witness who lives in a nearby apartment building overlooking the alley said the man suffered head wounds that left him sprawled on the ground and bleeding. He was later pronounced dead at hospital, the city's 15th homicide victim of the year.

Family told media that Ross had no children and wasn't married.

"He loved his family," said Stanley Ross, a cousin of Clarence's.

He said he saw his cousin about twice a week in the core area.

Police said later Thursday they had a man and woman in custody after an investigation by the homicide unit.

Charges were pending, said police. The names of the accused were not released.

"I'm heartbroken," said an aunt of Ross, who didn't want her name used.

She said she was the last person to see him alive. "We don't know nothing. We're in the dark," she said.

Police didn't say how the man suffered his fatal injuries, but the witness -- who was interviewed at the Public Safety Building after the attack -- said he didn't hear any loud noises before a woman outside encountered the grisly scene.

He said he could hear a woman saying, "Oh my god," which caught his attention. However, it wasn't until he heard the sound of a police radio that he went to the window, and saw a bleeding man lying in the alley below.

"I couldn't recognize his face because of all the blood," he said.

The discovery meant the alley was flooded with people, said the witness, such as officers who looked under cars and along walls. The police helicopter illuminated the alley, he said, and he saw the victim wore track pants with a dark stripe down the side as well as a grey hoodie. Friday morning, a forensics officer examined the area near a large dark stain in the back alley, including a Pontiac Grand Prix parked next to where the stain was.

The area around where Ross was discovered has had its share of crime problems.

One resident said sex-trade workers use the back stairway with men who pay them, so the men's vehicles aren't impounded. And in April, 42-year-old Allan Frank Crockford died after he was shot to death on the 600 block of Maryland Street.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

History

Updated on Friday, May 18, 2012 at 9:43 AM CDT:
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