KILLERS GROW YOUNGER

Gangs, Drugs Fuel Slayings

When it comes to youth crime, the media and public devote most of
their attention and outrage to the minors who steal vehicles.

A disturbing trend that has emerged in recent years worsened in 2007
and went almost unnoticed.

Winnipeg police and RCMP charged at least 30 youths with murder or
manslaughter compared with 18 in 2006. That leaves experts wondering
how some between the ages of 12 and 17 have become so violent and
developed such a disregard for human life.

Youths were charged in at least 15 homicides in Manitoba.

Many were allegedly motivated by gang rivalries or the illegal drug
trade. Some suspects are products of families in poverty or broken homes.

In the RCMP's jurisdiction, most murders occurred on northern
reserves struggling with the same challenges as cities -- how do you
prevent kids from becoming drug addicts or dealers and how to do you
keep them out of gangs?

Twenty-six people have been killed in violent incidents in Winnipeg
this year, the most since a record 34 in 2004.

Seven of this year's slayings remain unsolved.

- - Chadwick Lund, 29 -- stabbed outside a home on Alexander Avenue on
Jan. 16. Ovide Herman Moar, 30, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Stuart Mark, 36 -- beaten Jan. 17 inside his Alfred Avenue home.
Michael Lynn Pearce, 39, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Roxanne Fernando, 24 -- beaten body found Feb. 27 near Mollard Road
and Ritchie Street. Three people charged with first-degree murder,
including her 19-year-old boyfriend. A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty
and sentenced to 10 years.

- - Douglas McCann, 45 -- died March 2 after he was beaten at the
Woodbine Hotel. Terrance Brightman, 37, and Steven Cheffins, 28,
charged with second-degree murder.

- - Greg Skead, 24 -- stabbed March 9 in a Furby Street alley. Preston
Lee Tran, 22, charged with second-degree murder.

- - John Lane, 25 -- stabbed in his Hamilton Avenue apartment March 17.
Erik Ryan Cassan, 21, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Thomas Roy Phillips, 38 -- shot while sitting in his vehicle on
Magnus Avenue on March 26. Two boys, aged 16 and 15, charged with
second-degree murder.

- - Alexander Kolesnyk, 57 -- stabbed at Madison Memorial Lodge on
March 27. Police shot and killed the 61-year-old suspect, Ahmed Saleh-Azed.

- - Erin Michael Pawlowski, 35 -- died April 22 after an assault at a
Selkirk Avenue bus stop. Ashley McCallum, 31, David Pruden, 26, and
Cory Scribe, 19, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Earl Nepinak, 45 -- died May 13 after he was beaten at Main Street
and Jarvis Avenue. No one charged.

- - Josh Prince, 19 -- stabbed May 26 during a fight on Rothesay
Street. A 16-year-old boy charged with second-degree murder.

- - Alvin Randall McDonald, 20 -- shot outside a Pacific Av en ue home
June 16. Thomas Ross Charles Halpin, 19, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Aaron James Nabess, 20 -- shot July 12 outside a Magnus Avenue
home. Cory Owen Bushie, 27, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Aynsley Aurora Kinch, 35 -- body found July 15 in a field on Murray
Avenue. Cause of death not released. Stanton Burlen Viner, 49,
charged with second-degree murder.

- - Gage Guimond, 2 -- died July 22 after he was injured in his
caregiver's Magnus Avenue home. Shirley Guimond, his 52-year-old
great-aunt, charged with manslaughter.

- - Kristi Hall, 36 -- stabbed July 27 outside an apartment at Main
Street and St. John's Avenue. Christine Swampy, 22, and two
15-year-old girls charged with second-degree murder.

- - Fonassa Lynn Bruyere, 17 -- body found Aug. 30 at Mollard Road and
Ritchie Street. Cause of death not released. No one charged.

- - Kyle Boss, 21 -- beaten Sept. 1 on Beverley Street. Three boys,
aged 16, 15 and 14, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Patrick (Corey) Chief-Courchene -- shot Sept. 15 behind a Manitoba
Avenue house. No one charged.

- - Gregory Wayne Kipling, 33 -- found behind a Spence Street home
Sept. 15. Cause of death not released. No one charged.

- - Anthony Orville Woodhouse, 30 -- shot Sept. 29 outside a Boyd
Avenue home. No one charged.

- - Lyle Walker, 35 -- died Oct. 1 after an assault outside Club 200 on
Garry Street. Jeffrey James Bear, 31, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Elliott Andreas Flett, 24, -- stabbed and found inside a vacant
Pritchard Avenue house Oct. 23. No one charged.

- - Delmar Young, 30 -- stabbed outside a Gertie Street apartment Nov.
17. Kyle Andrew McKay, 21, charged with second-degree murder.

- - Jeff Engen, 24 -- stabbed Nov. 18 at The Empire Cabaret. No one charged.

- - Nathan Starr, 14 -- died in a deliberately-set Mountain Avenue
house fire. Riel Mitchell, 27, and a 16-year-old boy charged with
second-degree murder.

Crime Stoppers has doubled its awards for information that leads to
an arrest in any unsolved homicide. Call 786-TIPS (8477) or go to
www.winnipegcrimestoppers.org to submit a tip.