Trio sought after woman beaten, bound, left in garbage bin

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This article was published 20/12/2023 (654 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police have charged two people — and are searching for three more suspects — after a 27-year-old woman was restrained in a downtown apartment, brutalized for nearly a day, then abandoned in a large garbage bin amid freezing temperatures.

Passersby later heard the woman’s cries for help. She was brought to hospital and treated for numerous significant injuries, including to her face, police said Wednesday during a news conference.

Sgt. Gary Mathez of the Winnipeg Police Service sex crimes unit said the woman went to the Manitoba Housing apartment complex at 24 Carlton St. the afternoon of Dec. 9 with another person whose identity has not yet been confirmed.

The woman was then forced into a suite, where she was assaulted and robbed. The victim told police she lost consciousness and was tied up for a significant period of time.

The suspects later forced the woman, who was still restrained, into a garbage bin behind the 10-storey public housing tower on the afternoon of Dec. 10, where she was abandoned.

“The victim… was restrained in a manner in which she could no longer defend herself… I know that she was brought there in a capacity, where she was physically placed there by one of our subjects, with the assistance of another individual,” said Mathez.

The incapacitated woman, who would not have been able to free herself from the bin, was exposed to below-freezing temperatures for about an hour, Mathez said.

“Much of this evidence… we’ve been able to see on video surveillance. It’s disturbing. It’s a complete disregard for any kind of human life, as far as I’m concerned.”

Medical staff treating the woman at a city hospital called for police at about 4:10 p.m. Dec. 10.

Mathez said Wednesday the injured woman had since been released from hospital.

“We’ll continue… to provide everything we can, with respect to victims services, and giving her the support she needs long-term as the trauma sustained from an event like this would be almost insurmountable,” he said.

WPS specialized investigations Sgt. Andrea Scott described the case as a “brutal assault on an Indigenous woman.”

On Dec. 14, WPS investigators, along with tactical officers, arrested two suspects who reside on the ninth floor of the apartment complex.

Misty Bird, 26, has been charged with robbery and forcible confinement.

Bird is also still before the court for an alleged assault with a weapon and mischief under $5,000, records show. She was wanted on warrants at the time of her arrest.

Lorde Barrios, 28, has been charged with one count of forcible confinement. He has no past convictions.

Sex crimes investigators obtained arrest warrants for three other suspects Dec. 15, but police had not yet located them.

“The Winnipeg Police Service and every resource we have available to us has been progressively exhausting all measures to try and locate these people,” said Mathez.

Joey Michael Audy, 35, is wanted for attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, robbery and forcible confinement.

Audy has also been charged with three counts of failure to comply with a probation order and two counts of failure to comply with a release order, court records show.

He has a lengthy criminal record dating to 2011, including more than a dozen convictions for breaching various court orders. Audy has also been convicted of uttering threats, robbery, forcible entry, thefts, and possessing property obtained by crime.

Romeo Chris Miles, 27, is wanted for robbery and forcible confinement.

Miles pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to failing to comply with a probation order and uttering threats, where he was given a year of supervised probation, records show. His record includes multiple convictions for failing to comply with court orders, assaults, thefts, robbery, weapons possession, break-and-enter, and thefts.

Evelyn Marie McKay, 40, is wanted for robbery and forcible confinement. She was convicted in 2014 of failing to provide a breath sample under the Highway Traffic Act.

Mathez said the three suspects are not residents of the Carlton Street housing complex, but are known to frequent it.

Residents and neighbours told the Free Press the residential tower is a problem spot, with many non-residents entering and exiting freely.

Arthur Szymkow, 70, lives across the alleyway and knows many tenants of the public housing complex.

He recalled watching tactical police carrying shields, assault weapons, a chainsaw and battering ram preparing to enter 24 Carlton St. on Dec. 14, before hearing concussion grenades go off.

Out in the alley, Szymkow said, police officers in cruisers sat watch near the dumpsters and warned him not to walk near the bins for fear of contaminating evidence.

“It’s a common occurrence in this area,” he said of violence.

City police asked for anyone with information on the location of the suspects to “immediately” call 911, investigators at 204-986-6245 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca