The man accused of stabbing and killing a woman in front of her kids in an Ottawa park Thursday morning is being charged with first-degree murder, according to city police, who labelled it a femicide.
In a news release, Ottawa police said 36-year-old Brkti Berhe of Ottawa was attacked around 11:30 a.m. near the intersection of Uplands and Paul Anka drives, south of the core and near the city’s international airport.
She died at Paul Landry Park, sources told CBC. Paramedics told CBC the woman’s children were uninjured.
Police said the male suspect fled in a vehicle and was arrested near exit 66 on Highway 417 in Casselman, Ont., about 50 kilometres east of the park.
On Friday, Ottawa police said 36-year-old Fsha Tekhle from Montreal is facing a first-degree murder charge for Berhe’s death.
Police said the accused “had a domestic relationship with a family member of the victim” and that the killing was a femicide, which is when a woman or girl is killed because of their gender.