Over a year after the alleged homicide, a Penticton woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old boy last April.
Kiera Bourque, 21, has been charged with manslaughter in relation to the death of Devon Blackmore, which did not become known to the public until December last year. It is considered by police to be one of four homicides in the Penticton area last year.
Related: Fourth homicide in 2017 shrouded in mystery
“Due to the sensitive nature of this case, and so not to compromise the investigation, little information was provided to the public at the time of the incident,” said Const. James Grandy in a news release.
The Western News first revealed alleged details of the investigation in March after uncovering court documents from the day of the incident.
Related: Alleged details from police investigation into homicide
The details from the document — an information to obtain (ITO) a search warrant — have not been proven in a court of law, and an ITO is not considered to hold the same weight as a sworn statement in court.
Those documents noted Bourque had allowed the boy to use some of her non-prescription morphine to help with an illness he had been battling.
Because Blackmore didn’t know how to do it, Bourque had to load the syringe for him, according to the documents. The author of the ITO wrote that after taking some of the morphine, Bourque helped Blackmore try to get to the washroom, but the boy had a seizure on his way.
Related: Penticton woman arrested in connection with homicide, released without charges
In February, police announced that Bourque was arrested and released without charges in the matter, about a month-and-a-half after the alleged homicide came to public light.
In a Tuesday news release, police said Bourque, Blackmore’s girlfriend, had called 911 on April 2, 2017, reporting the boy was in medical distress. Upon arrival, paramedics and police found the man was unresponsive inside a Forestbrook Drive residence in Penticton.
Paramedics attempted to perform CPR on Blackmore, who was ultimately pronounced dead at 1 p.m. that day.
“Although initially believed that the man’s death was attributable to a medical condition, further information and evidence was obtained in August of 2017, which led RCMP investigators and the B.C. Coroners Service, to categorize his death as a homicide,” said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.
At the end of more than a year-long investigation by the Penticton Regional Investigation Section, Bourque was arrested on Tuesday. She made an initial appearance in court Tuesday on one count of manslaughter, a charge approved by the B.C. Prosecution Service.
Court records online indicate Bourque appeared in court in court, but a bail hearing was adjourned by defence. Her next appearance is scheduled for June 20.