Beer vendor homicide victim identified

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2022 (1361 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Family and friends are mourning a 19-year-old man fatally injured at a beer vendor in Winnipeg early Tuesday.

City police, who identified the man as John Lloyd Maaba Barrion, are investigating his death as a homicide.

Barrion was found in unstable condition after emergency services responded to a report of an injured man at the vendor, attached to a hotel on the 1400 block of Notre Dame Avenue, at about 3:10 a.m.

He later died in hospital, police said in a statement.

In a Facebook message, a family friend told the Free Press that Barrion was an employee at the vendor: “Please help us to reach justice for John Lloyd’s death.”

Barrion’s family declined to comment Wednesday, with one relative saying they wanted time to grieve. A community group has offered to hold a vigil.

Family in Winnipeg and the Philippines paid tribute to Barrion on social media, sharing photos of the young man. One showed him wearing a cap and gown at a graduation; in another, he is seen smiling next to his father.

Barrion’s death is Winnipeg’s seventh homicide of 2022.

Police declined to comment on the nature of Barrion’s injuries. Officials did not release any information about any potential suspects, nor say if security footage is being reviewed.

Staff at the Travelodge by Wyndham Winnipeg hotel declined to comment.

Emergency services were alerted at a time outside the beer vendor’s opening hours. The standard closing time for Manitoba’s vendors is 2:30 a.m.

For vendor employees and hotel owners, the homicide underscores the dangers of the job, sector members say.

“It’s sad that it happens to anybody, but (this) hits closer to home,” said Keith Horn, who owns the Northern Hotel at 826 Main St. “We don’t have a lot of things that happen like this in our industry.”

Incidents involving violent or aggressive customers are not isolated to late nights, said Horn. “It can happen at any time of day.”

Shortly before 1 a.m. on Nov. 17, an employee of the North End hotel’s beer vendor was stabbed after asking a customer to comply with COVID-19 rules and wear a face mask, said Horn.

“Everybody seems to carry a weapon lately,” he said.

The worker’s chest wounds were stapled, and he returned to work for his next shift. Horn said it was “lucky” the man’s injuries weren’t worse.

The hotel owner said he is always looking at ways to improve security and avoid incidents that could harm staff.

Scott Jocelyn, president and chief executive officer of the Manitoba Hotel Association, which represents 240 beer vendors in the province, said the organization offers safety training and advice.

“Any assistance they need, we want to be there for them,” he said Wednesday.

Vendor employees have to deal with everything from “grab and go” thefts to unruly customers, though violent incidents are rare, said Jocelyn.

“You never know who the next person coming into your building will be,” he said. “There’s not really a rhyme or reason to some of the stuff we hear about.”

Many hotels with vendors have added cameras to improve security and help with identification if there is an incident, Jocelyn said.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call police at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching