The father of the two children found dead Monday evening in Laval will face two charges of first degree murder, the most serious crime in the Criminal Code.
The Laval police arrested the 46-year-old father the same evening. According to the denunciation act unveiled on Tuesday, Kamaljit Arora will also be accused of assaulting a 45-year-old woman, having tried to strangle her.
The circumstances in which the two children – an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl – died have not yet been revealed by the Laval police.
But according to a neighbour, their older sister had left their house in a panic to get help, their immediate neighbor said.
Monday, shortly before 6 p.m., Annie Charpentier had just parked in the street when the 18-year-old girl stormed out of her house, asking her for a phone.
The woman reported taking her cell phone and asking her what number she wanted to dial. “911”, she launched in English.
“She said, ‘tell them my dad killed my brother and my sister.’ »
The mother was screaming, the girl was in panic, said Mme Carpenter. The police arrived quickly on Lauzon Street, while she was still on the phone with 911.
“If I had been home earlier, maybe I could have acted,” said the mother of the family, shaking her head gently.
Mr. Arora was to appear Tuesday afternoon at the Laval courthouse, but his state of health did not allow it, indicated in court the Crown prosecutor, Ms.e Karine Dalphond. He is now scheduled to appear on Wednesday afternoon to be formally charged on all three counts.
The family was not well known in the neighborhood. Residents explained that the family of 5 had recently moved into the gray stone semi-detached in the Sainte-Dorothée district of Laval. Most admitted not knowing them.
But Annie Charpentier, their immediate neighbor — their two houses are separated by an asphalt driveway for a car — had gone to introduce themselves to the two adults and three children when they moved in in July. A smiling, modern, pleasant family with beautiful children, described the young woman, visibly still shaken.
They were not isolated people, she said: there were often relatives who visited, including grandparents.
crying children
“This morning, the number of children crying when they arrived at school was unimaginable,” said the school crossing guard posted at the corner of rue Lauzon, where the tragedy took place.
André Mahilian has been a brigadier there for seven years, very close to the Père-Laporte elementary school, which the 11-year-old boy attended. His sister was studying at a secondary school in the area.
“It’s painful to come to class and not find your friend,” he added.
With his yellow bib, the man said that some parents finally turned back with their toddlers rather than dropping them off at school. He himself said he had tears in his eyes before the start of classes.
School psychologist Gladis Valencia, who met at lunchtime, took a deep breath before speaking.
Since the beginning of the morning, she has been busy intervening with the students, with an entire crisis team deployed by the school service center to lend her a hand.
“We try to make it as less dramatic as possible, so that it doesn’t deteriorate,” she explained.
But children shed tears at school. “Even adults,” said the psychologist.
Late Tuesday morning, the police tape was removed around the residence and the command post left the premises. The mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer, met with residents of the area to reassure them.