A 27-year-old man was killed while he was a passenger in a taxi in the Parc-Extension district, during the night from Friday to Saturday. An investigation has been opened into the third murder to occur in Montreal since the start of the year.
It was a little after midnight that the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) said it was called to intervene at the corner of rue Saint-Roch and avenue Querbes. Several calls to 911 were then made, the scene having occurred in a fairly dense and mainly residential area, near Jarry Park.
According to the first information collected by investigators, one or more suspects “would have fired in the direction of the victim, who was on board the taxi vehicle, and then fled before the arrival of the police,” explained the agent Caroline Chèvrefils, spokesperson for the SPVM.
The victim is Jason Downey Laquant. He has no criminal record, but has had previous run-ins with the law. According to a police source, the murder could be linked to drugs.
At the time of the event, the young man had been injured in the upper body by at least one bullet, according to the police. Resuscitation maneuvers were carried out, but he was pronounced dead on the scene, continued Mme Honeysons.
The taxi driver was not injured, but he suffered a nervous shock. Paramedics treated him on the spot. As of late Saturday afternoon, no arrests had yet been made.
Several potential witnesses were to be met by investigators in the hours that followed. Video tapes from surveillance cameras that could have captured images should also be viewed by law enforcement, in an attempt to reconstruct the sequence of events. Door-to-door canvassing was also carried out in the neighborhood.
As per protocol, the investigation was entrusted to the Major Crimes Section of the SPVM. Forensic identification technicians were also requested as reinforcements.
A vast security perimeter has been set up. At the passage of The Press, at the beginning of the afternoon, avenue Querbes was still closed between rue Jarry and rue Jean-Talon. We could still see the taxi being the subject of an assessment by the investigators.
Third murder of the year in Montreal
This is the third murder to occur on the island of Montreal since the start of the year, and the second in just 24 hours. Friday morning, Narjess Ben Yedder, a woman in her thirties, was allegedly stabbed to death by her husband in their home in Pointe-aux-Trembles. This would be the second feminicide in Quebec in 2024.
In mid-January, a man was found lifeless in a vehicle parked in the Ville-Marie district. The SPVM then confirmed that it was a murder and the first homicide of the year. The victim was Charles-Anthony Carrier, a 30-year-old man. He was known to the police and had had numerous run-ins with the law over the past 10 years.
With the collaboration of Daniel Renaud, The Press