Prince George RCMP have arrested and charged a 23-year-old woman in connection to a homicide on Tuesday in a residential city neighbourhood.
Danika Rose Payou of Prince George faces a charge of second-degree murder after a woman was found dead at a home at the Sunrise Valley Mobile Home Park in the 3700 block of Lansdowne Road.
Police were called to the scene after a disturbance was reported shortly after midnight on Tuesday and were looking for two women who a witness said left the scene at about 12:30 a.m.
“Through the course of the investigation, the Prince George RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit has identified and arrested one of the women involved in the homicide and are continuing the search for the other female involved,” said Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, media relations officer for the Prince George RCMP.
Second-degree murder implies that act was committed on impulse. To convict a person of first-degree murder, Crown must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the act planned and deliberate.
The sentence for second-degree murder is life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years, as determined by a judge.
Cooper said the investigation continues and police believe there are other suspects connected to the murder.
Payou has a criminal record for offences committed in Prince George and Fort St. John, according to court records. They include convictions for assaulting a peace officer and assault with a weapon.
In addition to the murder count, Payou also faces counts of two counts each of assault with a weapon and breaching probation and one count each of assault, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose from an alleged January 21 incident in Prince George and was released from custody following a bail hearing on January 27.
Payou remained in custody on the murder charge as of Thursday with a bail hearing scheduled for March 20.
It is the second homicide of the year in Prince George. On Friday, RCMP said the death of a woman found in a 500-block 17th Avenue home on February 4 is also a homicide investigation.
Names of the victims in both cases have not been released.
- with files from Mark Nielsen
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