WINNIPEG -- A man who allegedly killed a family member turned himself in to police following a stabbing attack on Friday, Winnipeg police said.
Police said a 31-year-old man appeared relatively calm when he walked into the Winnipeg police headquarters on Friday around 4:20 p.m. and told officers he had killed a member of his family.
The man was taken into custody right away. Shortly after, police said officers received a call about an injured man at a townhouse in the 100 block of Highwater Path in the Maples.
Emergency crews responded and found a man dead with stab wounds. Police have identified the victim as 54-year-old Reynaldo Ramirez. His death marks the city’s 44th homicide of 2019.
Winnipeg police cruisers and an Identification Unit were still on the scene in front of the townhouse as of Saturday afternoon.
Josh Jerao lives across the street from Ramirez and his family.
He said Ramirez was a kind man who he would often see working in his yard or walking his dog Diesel.
“I'm just shocked. It's very tragic that something like this would happen, and so close to home," Jerao said.
Josh Jerao lives across the street from Ramirez and his family. (Source: CTV News Winnipeg)
Jerao said he and Ramirez were both into bikes and would talk about motorcycles together - the two even exchanged phone numbers.
“He's a loving man, he's a family man, and I know that he really loved his family.”
The homicide unit continued with the investigation and charged Milles Anthony Ramirez, 31, with second degree murder. He was detained in custody.
These charges have not been tested in court.
“I think investigators have a pretty good idea of what happened in the residence, but they don’t necessarily have a great idea of why it happened,” Winnipeg Police Const. Jay Murray said on Sunday morning.
“There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered in this investigation.”
Police would not say what the relationship between the two men was, but said they were family members. Neither man had been known to police previously.
Murray said police believe the stabbing happened on Friday, but could not give a more precise time. Drugs and alcohol are not considered to be a factor in the killing.
It’s rare to have a suspect turn themselves into police and confess to a crime, Murray told media on Sunday.
“It’s certainly different and unique,” Murray said. “Investigators are trained to work with a whole variety of situations that might present themselves. This is just another one of those.”
He said usually a confession is one of the last things that happen in an investigation.
Murray said he feels for the family who has lost two family members because of the incident.
-with files from CTV's Mike Arsenault
