Boy, 17, charged with 2nd-degree murder in fatal stabbing of 14-year-old girl

Winnipeg police say a 17-year-old boy is facing second-degree murder charges after an argument allegedly led to the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old girl downtown Friday afternoon.

The Winnipeg Police Service says the suspect was arrested Monday in the St. Boniface neighbourhood — at Provencher Boulevard and Des Meurons Street — following an investigation by homicide detectives.

He was charged and detained in custody.

Police believe the victim and the suspect knew each other. They were together Friday – along with two other girls – when a “verbal argument erupted” between the victim and the suspect, according to WPS.

Police allege the boy took out a knife and stabbed the girl multiple times before fleeing. The suspect and the two other girls then fled on foot, police say.

It happened outside a building on Graham Avenue near Fort Street, a block away from police headquarters on a busy corner around 1 p.m.

Officers who responded to the stabbing found the teen in the entrance of a building and applied a chest seal while they waited for an ambulance to arrive, police said. The victim underwent emergency surgery but didn’t survive.

Winnipeg police are not releasing the girl’s name, citing provisions to the Youth Criminal Justice Act that prevent police from identifying victims of violence who are under the age of 18.

Premier Wab Kinew offered his condolences to “those involved in this tragic event” in a social media post after the charge was announced.

“Violence among our youth has to stop,” he said. “We need to protect them and put them on a path to success so that more youth can reach their 18th birthday.”

–With files from The Canadian Press