Police in New Brunswick have ruled the death of a 44-year-old woman a homicide following an autopsy.
The woman was found outside her apartment on Saint John’s east side this weekend.
“On Sunday morning, July 16th, at about 6:24 in the morning, Saint John Police received a 911 call regarding a female who had been located in the backyard of a Melrose Street residence,” says Sergeant Lori Magee of the Saint John Police.
A resident of the apartment found the woman after coming home from a night shift. She was taken to hospital, but later pronounced dead.
“As a result of an autopsy conducted yesterday, police have learned that the results indicate that the victim, the female, was the victim of a homicide,” says Sgt. Magee.
Police say they’re not releasing the victim’s name unless the next of kin want the name released.
On Tuesday, police canvassed the neighbourhood asking nearby residents what they knew about the victim.
“Well, it is a quiet neighbourhood,” says a nearby resident, Jocelyn Gagnon. “We don’t usually have very many incidents like we’ve had Sunday morning, and it’s a concern because there’s a lot of seniors living in the area.”
Gagnon lives down the street from where the woman was found. She never expected something like this to happen so close to her home.
“Sunday morning, I got up at 7 and there were police cars all over,” says Gagnon. “When I looked up, I saw the yellow tape and I knew something had happened, but I just didn’t think it was that type of incident. We trust folks around here, and we know it can happen, we just don’t think it can happen in our area.”
Police are still in the preliminary stages of their investigation and no cause of death is being releasedat this time.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ashley Blackford
