APTN National News March 13, 2021 – Police investigate death of pregnant woman, Fatal wellness check

[Music] good evening welcome to aptn national news weekend i'm dennis ward it's not the way a community planned to spend international women's day in mourning after a six-month pregnant woman was found murdered and disposed of in winnipeg last week police are looking to the public for leads here's brittany hobson with more winnipeg police service are left with more questions than answers when it comes to the death of janna williams they are pleading for information surrounding her whereabouts over the past two weeks this is somebody that was loved by the community by members of her family and it's incredibly important that anyone that has information that can help us with this investigation come forward william's remains were found in winnipeg's north end on march 4th her family said she was about six months pregnant at the time of her death police believe the 28 year old was killed at another location before being moved we know that somebody was involved at the disposal of her body that much is for sure and we're asking for members of the community to come forward and provide us with information i don't like to use the word disposal i struggled with another word to use but when the facts of this case come out i feel it's it's the most accurate word to use unfortunately police wouldn't release cause of death or say when she died but they believe it was sometime last month investigators are looking for information from the homeless community it's likely that she was somewhat transient over those two weeks that can create some challenges for our investigators so we're asking for members of the public to share this information with anyone that lives in the transient community [Music] on sunday a vigil was organized at the site where williams body was found liam mckyver is an mmiwg advocate and organized the event she spoke emotionally about the impact these vigils have on community members it's really hard doing this almost every second week and it's been continuing a continuum even posting our sisters online missing every second third day when is it gonna stop you know when are we going to be safe a memorial was set up at the site attendees shared memories and words of hope and support for williams family my love goes out to the family and elea said it best that you have family that we are there with you we will walk with you we will struggle with you we will cry with you we will fight with you for janna janna deserves to be honored and loved and deserves justice anyone with information is urged to call winnipeg police or crime stoppers brittany hobson aptn national news winnipeg to the east coast now and months before a big mom man was fatally shot during a wellness check he tried to get mental health treatment that's according to his family who say he was turned away numerous times and a warning self-harm is discussed in this story angel moore reports he just wanted to do good things in life becky levi says her uncle rodney levi loved his family he lived with becky helping to take care of her two sons but rodney died last year and becky says the mental health system let him down even if it would have just taken him seriously some of the times at the hospital things could have so differently like he wanted he wanted to get help he wanted to be a better person forty-eight-year-old rodney of metapenagyag first nation was fatally shot june 12 2020 by an rcmp officer during a wellness check one week after an edmonton police officer shot and killed chantel moore during a wellness check brad mcmillan of natawagani first nation is an ex-rcmp officer he grew up with rodney if those people had more context more knowledge of that call more knowledge of him man that would have went down so much differently i know that and there's nothing i don't really care anybody else says to me that's what i believe and i believe that poor becky said rodney tried numerous times to get mental health treatment at the mara machi hospital in new brunswick she said even an instance of self-harm was not enough to get him long-term treatment he went to the hospital i'm not sure if it was three or four times and they they had sent him home and the last time he went he was walking up the driveway and found a sharp piece of glass and slitty's wrists so they would take them serious and actually put them in the psych ward the government of new brunswick recently announced a new addictions and mental health care plan a five-year plan to increase services but there's no mention of specific services for indigenous mental health care two weeks before rodney died he was accepted into a long-term treatment center but it was online he said i told them that you know doing it on the internet isn't going to help need one-on-one like face-to-face help becky eventually did get a call that the treatment center had an in-person opening for rodney but rodney had already been dead for five months if you are experiencing any thoughts of self-harm please call the first nations and inuit hope for wellness helpline at the number listed on your screen angel moore aptn national news jabuktuk also known as halifax a video has been circulating on social media showing a violent confrontation between a winnipeg security officer and an indigenous disabled man who was panhandling daryl stranger has more maloney in this video captured by a bystander a security officer from 494 security services can be seen getting rough with brian mckay who is disabled in a written statement the security firm said the northgate mall had requested a trespass order be reinforced to what they called a known and habitual trespasser security arrived and asked mckay to leave and when he did not they tried to detain him their statement said quote the person involved resisted the arrest striking at security on multiple occasions in a resistive assaultive manner mckay says he was not aggressive when security first approached him in the video he does swing at the officer but he says he was trying to protect himself at first i had a power line there and then out of nowhere he came in front [Music] actually didn't give me time to to [Music] to leave the situation that where i was at sitting at the spot mckay suffers from spina bifida a condition he's had since birth when he was 14 mckay was shoved into a burning shed by some other kids that incident was traumatic for both mckay and his grandmother elsie moore moore was shocked when she saw this video of her grandson i just started to shake my chest was sore my stomach my old bing was i was shaky and i i think i almost had a breakdown there i was so shocked of what i've seen when the confrontation began two bystanders tried to intervene 494 security said in a statement bystanders were observed approaching the incident in an escalating manner byron linus shot the video on his phone and says he decided to intervene to prevent mccabe from getting hurt well if there was an investigation they would see exactly what happened and that's me de-escalating the the situation if i had not got out of that vehicle he would have had his knee probably on brian's back brian would have been in cuffs brian would have been in the back of that security car now 494 security said an investigation was completed and the act was deemed lawful under the criminal code of canada and the manitoba petty trespass act now aptn asked 494 if the officer would face any discipline but we're told all relevant information could be found in their statements now moore and mckay said they have no intentions of filing any complaints or charges as they both just want to move on from this incident darrell stranger apt national news winnipeg a new report from the manitoba advocate for children and youth has been released it looks at the progress the provincial government has made on implementing the 62 recommendations from the phoenix sinclair inquiry it's been 15 years since the five-year-old died after being beaten and abused by her mother and stepfather since then the death of children due to maltreatment has only continued brittany hobson explains the lives of 19 children under the age of five or the subject of a new report from the manitoba advocate for children and youth between 2008 and 2020 these children died after being maltreated the 64-page document examines what has been done since the death of phoenix sinclair who faced a similar fate in 2005. this special report emerges from our concern that deaths of young children due to maltreatment continue to be a serious concern in our province 15 years after the death of phoenix sinclair and seven years after the end of the public inquiry into her life and maltreatment death acting advocate ainsley crone says the province has been slow to enact the 62 recommendations that came out of the inquiry since 2014 the province has fulfilled 55 percent of the recommendations krohn says while this is a significant number little has been done to support families when they need it most a lot of work has happened at that larger level the systemic level you know big structural system changes but that progress remains really slow on the changes that have a direct impact on families and on children in the report crone makes five additional recommendations she emphasized the need for more family supports after kids are reunited with their parents in 5 out of the 19 cases children returned and the families received no additional assistance sometimes reunification is seen as the end of a process as opposed to the beginning of a new dynamic in the family kendra inglis knows the importance of having wrap-around services for families she is a director of macon transition an organization that offers living arrangements for families and children transitioning out of the welfare system her team offers around-the-clock support being able to have that staff available to them 24 hours a day is is definitely lowering the risk of of abuse and neglect and a parent is feeling completely defeated because they're not doing this alone krone says the province needs to move quick on implementing the rest of the recommendations if they continue at the pace they are at now it will be 2028 before all are completed while we're waiting um for those changes to be enacted there are little ones who are growing up and who are not always safe in their environments and um and so the sooner that those changes can be made and others you know the the safer that that children are going to be in our communities families minister rochelle squire says she will provide an update to the advocates office in six months brittany hobson ab10 national news winnipeg time now for a quick break but stick around there's much more to come welcome back as you know it's been one year since the coven 19 pandemic changed everything justin trudeau addressed the house of commons this past thursday to market as a special day of observance a moment of silence was held to remember the sacrifices made and the lives lost this is where we find meaning in the depths of grief this is our light through a dark time every canadian we lost to this virus will be remembered every shift done by a front-line nurse every mask made by a canadian worker will not be forgotten we are stronger together today tomorrow and always to the west coast now in a blockade put up by activists who say they are fighting to save old-growth forests on vancouver island will be allowed to continue for another three weeks about 150 people rallied outside the bc supreme court in victoria in support of stopping old growth logging logging company teal jones filed an injunction to remove the blockades near port renfrew some have been up for seven months the bc supreme court granted a three-week adjournment to the protesters legal team to build their defense given the two weeks so she granted an extension we're here for we're here until it ends like you can't stop this movement it's just gonna keep going over the years aptn has shared stories about racism in taxi cabs and the northwest territories is no different with patrons calling for more measures to be put in place to ensure safe rides our reporter charlotte moore jacobs brings us that story lana lewis enjoys her weekly visits to the arctic indigenous wellness camp in yellowknife and she usually takes a cab but she says on march 1st she called aurora taxi for a ride from the camp and things immediately turned ugly as soon as i got into the cab he was putting down natives and saying we don't work and we're on crack lewis says the five-minute commute was cut short when he turned here reached across her opened the door and told her to leave he went down the corner she was not yet fully out of the car before it began moving and lewis's hand and leg were injured he opened my passenger door he told me to get out as i was getting out he dragged me i let go of the cab he was gone lewis says she called rcmp who took a statement and photographed her injured hands and leg before dropping her off at the hospital lewis is one of many in the north who are sharing their experiences using taxis last month deanna jumbo shared her negative experience using a yellow knight cab in this facebook post as soon as i started asking the real personal questions i kind of like shutting down like i looked at him really mean and i was like can you just stop and then he kind of got quiet for the rest of the ride and then when he dropped me off at my friend's hotel he kind of waited for me her story gained traction the status of women counsel nwt launched an anonymous taxi safety survey where patrons and cab drivers could share experiences and make recommendations we noticed the post a woman who shared her experience of sexual harassment in a cab as a warning to other women and then there were so many responses from women across the north and we thought that we needed to pay attention but executive director louise elders says status of women are currently compiling the data from the survey a meeting is scheduled with the city's mayor to discuss the issues and a final report with recommendations will be released to the public this month it unfortunately confirmed our suspicions and there were some there were some situations that as a layperson to me seemed criminal in nature which is really saddened aptn national news requested an interview with the cab company involved in lewis's incident and reached out to rcmp for comment on the investigation status but did not hear back from either by air time i'd like them to be all brought out and for people like that to be justice against them charlotte mort jacobs aptn national news yellowknife the old saying some people's trash is other people's treasure couldn't be more true in this next story about a lost headdress aptn's tina house explains it all started when harry warner came to this garbage bin to look for bottles but this time he found something with much more significance i saw a bag in here so i just need a feather stick and i wouldn't grab the bag and what warner found was this headdress but who did it belong to he says he brought it back home to his roommate and they decided to post on facebook to find the owner so many people wanted to claim it it was theirs there was people that were telling me that it's theirs and we told them if you can give us a description what it is what are all on it what was used to thread with it but a lot of them came up with nothing they didn't have pictures ron baker's niece in northern bc saw the post and called her family after she recognized that it had belonged to the late kotlacha chief simon baker of the squamish station he had given it to his son ron but ron says it had been stolen about 15 years ago from the aboriginal friendship center when i was looking at the picture on facebook and i'm looking across my living room at my pictures and i go hey that's my address after verifying ron baker as the rightful owner a repatriation ceremony was organized to return it ron's sister faye hull says she's so happy the headdress is finally home i really wish these feathers could talk about the journey where it's been in the last 15 years or so because it's in perfect condition whoever look had it respected it and looked after it fay says this isn't the first time things have returned to the family these carvings were found in an antique store that their dad had carved in the 1940s and this basket is one of nine that was returned to them after meeting someone who had them at an art show in santa fe new mexico what else is remarkable is that the dumpster where the headdress was found was only a half a block away from where faye and ron live and as faye puts the sacred headdress on her brother ron explains what it's like to be reunited with this precious gift from his late father every time you put a head dress on it just gives you an overwhelming feeling all the troubles go away you're in your own world and you're showing your own power tina house aptn national news north vancouver great story time for another quick break still to come the western hockey league comes to a first nation in alberta welcome back the calgary hitman of the western hockey league kicked off their season at their new temporary home it's on sutina nation just outside calgary's perimeter because of covet 19 the hitmen had to relocate so they would not be in contact with nhl teams playing in calgary and their search for a facility led them to their first nations neighbor tamara pimentel was there for the action even with a two-nothing win it was a quiet game without fans for the calgary hitman and an exciting moment for tsutina nation as their seven chiefs logo was on display during the team's first broadcast of the season it's a pretty good thing for the nation to bring a high-profile whl team to sit in the nation and really proud of our team on how hard they work to get the hitman here sutina's seven chief sports plex is the hitman's temporary home because of pandemic restrictions and brent dodging horse a council member for the nation and former player for the hitman says this is great exposure for the community anytime you can bring positive role models to your community that's that's a good thing i always want to promote healthy relationships healthy mental wellness healthy athleticism equipped with training facilities with the ability to broadcast games and hold accommodations at the great eagle hotel brad curl with the team says sutina is the perfect alternative everybody at seven chiefs sportsplex and on satina nation have been first class the organization behind the scenes has been outstanding the accommodations are are excellent and the players are very excited it really is a perfect scenario dodging horse says even though community members can't watch the game in person having the hitman here boots the nation's economy the occupancy rate isn't as good as we had hoped but with all the restrictions in alberta bringing the hitmen in and having them on the ice as a rental and bringing them into the hotel it's a win-win on both sides the team will call seven chiefs home for the duration of the western hockey league season tamara pimentel aptn national news tsutina nation what a beautiful facility well that is all the time we have for your aptn national news for this weekend for news anytime visit our website aptnews.ca i'm dennis ward thanks for joining us enjoy the rest of your weekend so so you

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Length: 24min 17sec (1457 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 13 2021