Manitoba teen charged in Esterhazy area homicide makes first court appearance

It was a brief court appearance Tuesday for a Manitoba teen, charged in connection with a February killing in the Rural Municipality of Fertile Belt.

Wearing a grey t-shirt, and showing little to no emotion during the appearance, the 17-year-old youth appeared in Yorkton provincial court Tuesday.

The teen, who is from a community in the north central region of Manitoba, is unable to be named or identified in any way under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Their charges include first degree murder, attempted murder, sexual assault with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, wearing a mask with intent to commit and indictable offence and failing to comply with a release order issued by Manitoba Provincial Court.

Police are still searching for two individuals who may be linked to the February 10 incident.

According to RCMP, the suspects travelled west through Ochapowace First Nation, which is just a short stretch away from the site of the killing, located in a small home just off Highway 9 in the Qu’Appelle Valley, south of Stockholm.

The incident led to the death of one man from the area, and sent one woman — who survived the attack — to hospital.

Police renewed its calls for information on the case, focusing Winnipeg and the surrounding area as a possible location for the two individuals.

The 17-year-old accused will return to Yorkton provincial court on June 16.