Accused killer in Langside mass shooting on probation for assault

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This article was published 02/12/2023 (710 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Homicide detectives have arrested their lone suspect in a Langside Street shooting last Sunday that left four people dead and one clinging to life — but what led to the shocking violence remains unclear.

At a news conference Friday, Winnipeg Police Service major crimes Insp. Jennifer McKinnon and homicide unit Sgt. Wade McDonald announced the arrest earlier in the day of Jamie Randy Felix, 32, who is on supervised probation for a 2021 assault.

Felix, who served 11 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a corporal, is charged with four counts of second-degree murder and one charge of attempted murder. He remains in custody.

McKinnon said the week has been a “stressful time” for police, the city and other communities affected by the mass shooting.

“It’s times like this that we really need to come together as a community to lend support to one another,” she told reporters. “We can’t do this alone.”

Felix was taken into custody at his quiet St. Vital apartment block at 6:30 a.m.

Homicide, tactical and patrol police made their way into the building, located at at 193 Fernwood Ave. via a smashed glass door at the rear of the residence. A police squad car remained parked outside the building, just off St. Anne’s Road, in the afternoon.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant late Thursday after identifying Felix as a suspect in the afternoon.

Investigators haven’t found the firearm used in the killing, McDonald said, adding police would be executing additional search warrants Friday.

Police do not have any other suspects in the shooting, but McDonald did not rule out making additional arrests related to the investigation.

It had been four days since police revealed any details about the investigation into the mayhem that erupted at about 4 a.m. Sunday in a rooming house at 143 Langside St.

Crystal Shannon Beardy, 34, and Stephanie Amanda Beardy, 33 — sisters from Lake St. Martin First Nation — were killed, as were Melelek Leseri Lesikel, 29, and Dylan Maxwell Lavallee, 41.

The 55-year-old man who survived the shooting remains in hospital in “very critical condition,” said McKinnon.

Lake St. Martin Chief Chris Traverse has known the Beardy family for years and spent time with them this week as they have been grieving.

“It’s painful. One of my best friends is their brother. I’ve been with him the past couple of days,” Traverse told the Canadian Press.

Traverse commended police for their diligence in locating a suspect, which has brought some relief to the family and community.

“They can start grieving and prepare for funerals that are coming up,” he said.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant late Thursday after identifying Felix as a suspect in the afternoon.

Investigators haven’t found the firearm used in the killing, McDonald said, adding police would be executing additional search warrants Friday.

Police do not have any other suspects in the shooting, but McDonald did not rule out making additional arrests related to the investigation.

It had been four days since police revealed any details about the investigation into the mayhem that erupted at about 4 a.m. Sunday in a rooming house at 143 Langside St.

Crystal Shannon Beardy, 34, and Stephanie Amanda Beardy, 33 — sisters from Lake St. Martin First Nation — were killed, as were Melelek Leseri Lesikel, 29, and Dylan Maxwell Lavallee, 41.

The 55-year-old man who survived the shooting remains in hospital in “very critical condition,” said McKinnon.

Lake St. Martin Chief Chris Traverse has known the Beardy family for years and spent time with them this week as they have been grieving.

“It’s painful. One of my best friends is their brother. I’ve been with him the past couple of days,” Traverse told the Canadian Press.

Traverse commended police for their diligence in locating a suspect, which has brought some relief to the family and community.

“They can start grieving and prepare for funerals that are coming up,” he said.

McKinnon and McDonald said they could not yet provide any details on why the victims and suspect — none of whom were tenants — were in the rooming house, what the motive was or whether Felix knew any of the victims.

“This is still very much an ongoing investigation,” McKinnon said.

Richard Fulham, the building’s owner, said the slayings happened inside the main-floor suite of a longtime tenant who was not home at the time. McDonald said that investigators have since spoken with that person.

Felix joined the CAF in July 2010 and was released in August 2021, National Defence spokeswoman Andrée-Anne Poulin said. The corporal served as an infantry soldier with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and had no deployments over his military career.

Felix has a brief court record, with just one prior conviction of assault causing bodily harm, which was pleaded down from an aggravated assault.

At his provincial court hearing in March, Felix received a suspended sentence with two years of supervised probation for his role in an assault at a Watt Street apartment in August 2021.

Crown prosecutor Tim Chudy told Judge Sandra Chapman that the victim and Felix had been at a crowded party in the apartment, and the extremely drunk victim left and began banging the doors of other suites.

Some kind of scuffle followed while the victim was escorted down the apartment building’s stairs, court was told, and the victim had to be hospitalized with head injuries. Felix turned himself in to police two days later and admitted his role in what occurred.

As part of his probation, Felix was told to seek help for his issue with alcohol and write a letter of apology to the victim. Court heard he had tried to seek residential treatment at the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, but was unsuccessful. He was planning to enter a treatment program in Peguis First Nation over the summer.

Court heard he had experienced trauma as a younger man, difficulties as a teen and struggled with substance use, but had no prior criminal history.

His identical twin brother, Johnathen James Felix, was shot and killed at age 21 with a .22-calibre handgun behind a Balmoral Street apartment in March 2012 in drug-related violence.

Johnathen Felix, court heard at the manslaughter sentencing of his killer, had gone to the apartment with illicit drugs to sell to men who intended to rob him. He refused to empty his pockets and ran but was shot, court was told.

Derek Merrick pleaded guilty in 2014 to manslaughter.

Johnathen Felix was a well-liked and up-and-coming model, according to relatives. Merrick admitted the gun was his, but did not take responsibility for pulling the trigger.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from the Canadian Press