Friends and family hold vigil for victim of Christmas Day homicide

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This article was published 27/12/2018 (2626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are asking for the public’s help in solving a Christmas Day homicide.

Tyler Evan Smoke, 26, was critically injured in a back lane on the 400 block of Victor Street around 7 a.m. on Dec. 25. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.

At a frosty vigil Thursday night, about 25 of his friends and family gathered to mourn in the laneway. They hovered around two votive candles, a bright bouquet of flowers, and one of Smoke’s left-behind shoes.

Smoke was from Black River First Nation, about 150 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

“I know he’s in the spirit world now. No pain, nothing,” said one of his uncles, Orville Smoke.

In an earlier interview, the uncle described Tyler Smoke as an ambitious boy, who was a talented painter. He helped raise Smoke from the ages of three through 17.

“He was happy, he was helpful. Whenever somebody wanted or needed something, he would be right there with them to help out a friend,” he said.

After getting in trouble with the law and spending time incarcerated during his youth, Smoke wasn’t the same, his uncle said. He lost touch with some family members.

The Winnipeg Police Service has declined comment on the cause of death. Multiple area residents, who reported hearing a man screaming while being attacked, said he was stabbed in the chest.

WPS spokesman Const. Jay Murray identified Smoke as the city’s 22nd homicide victim of 2018 at a Thursday news conference. With less than a week left in the year, the number of homicides in Winnipeg is down slightly from 24 in 2017 and 26 in 2016.

Investigators believe Smoke may have been homeless, Murray said. Police are asking shelters in Winnipeg to share information about him with people who use their services.

“There’s not a lot to go on right now, so we’re really pleading to the public to help us with this… Tyler likely had contact with some individuals that morning,” Murray said.

“If you haven’t already spoken with investigators, we’re asking that you contact us. The more we can become familiar with Tyler’s daily habits, where he had been, where he’d been staying, I think that will help us determine a timeline and figure out what happened.”

Area residents, who asked not to be named, told the Free Press on Dec. 25 they heard a man shouting in the back lane at 7 a.m.

“We heard yelling and screaming. He was screaming and then the last thing we heard was him praying. He prayed before he died. You could hear it,” said one woman. “I heard what I heard, and then the next thing I know, I see (police) lights.”

WPS officers arrived on scene at 7:15 a.m.

Smoke was taken to hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.

Police tape cordoned off a large portion of the back lane throughout much of the day, and cruisers remained on scene, blocking entrances to the alley.

From one backyard, a few evidence tags could be seen not far from an overturned shopping cart filled with assorted items. A blanket was left on the snow near where Smoke had been stabbed, an area resident said.

“This was an early-morning incident on Christmas. Based on what I’ve read, it was probably a bit of a loud incident,” Murray said.

“We’re just encouraging anyone who had been in the area, no matter if you think it was something small that you heard and may not be relevant, it’s always worth a call to the homicide unit.”

Orville Smoke said he hopes his nephew will be remembered “as a great person that would help out somebody.”

The family said funeral plans are being arranged.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca