Relief follows arrest, but fatal stabbing victim ‘not going to come back,’ aunt says

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This article was published 28/08/2022 (851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of a Winnipeg man who died after being stabbed outside a Point Douglas hotel earlier this month is relieved police have charged a suspect in the homicide.

Brian Edward Anderson had been celebrating his 40th birthday in the hours before was fatally wounded in front of the Mount Royal Hotel on Higgins Avenue, just east of Main Street, on Aug. 17.

“We feel good that there was an arrest, but Brian’s gone forever now,” said his aunt, Sharon Campbell. “He’s not going to come back. It was such a tragic way for him to go.”

Homicide detectives determined Anderson was stabbed during a dispute with a stranger, who fled, at about 2:30 a.m., city police said Monday.

Officers provided first aid when they were called to the hotel’s front steps at about 3 a.m., police said previously.

Anderson was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital in critical condition.

Police arrested a suspect in the 300 block of Blake Street, in the city’s Weston area, Aug. 24.

Elijah Moneyas, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder. He remains in custody.

Campbell, who has never heard of the suspect before, learned of the arrest when she spoke to police the following day.

Her family didn’t feel at ease until that point. Now, they are hoping for some closure, she said.

“We couldn’t sleep at night knowing there was still somebody out there,” said Campbell.

Family and friends attended Anderson’s memorial service at Cropo Funeral Chapel on Main Street on Friday afternoon. Afterward, he was laid to rest at Brookside Cemetery.

For Campbell, it was the hardest day since she learned of her nephew’s death.

When they last spoke Aug. 16, she wished him a happy birthday and encouraged him to be careful.

Anderson told her he was committed to making changes and finding a home of his own as he entered his 40s.

“He said he would quit drinking and roaming, and find a place to live so his daughters could visit him,” said Campbell. “I was so happy for him.”

The next day, she received a phone call informing her he had been killed.

Relatives are waiting for more information about the stabbing and what led up to it.

“We don’t know what sparked this attack on him,” said Campbell. “We don’t know what happened that night.”

She said Anderson had been at a family member’s home earlier that night. She believes he stopped at the hotel while walking to a downtown Salvation Army shelter, where he was staying.

He lived in a room at the Westbrook Inn on Keewatin Street until residents were displaced by a fire March 6.

“That’s why he was roaming,” said Campbell, who was disturbed by her nephew’s injuries and the violent way he died, after she saw his body.

She said he suffered at least one stab wound — to the left side of his head.

Anderson, who grew up in Winnipeg and Thompson, loved to spend time with his two daughters, who are 16 and 12, said Campbell.

“That was his world, those girls,” she said. “He was a happy guy. He liked his music and he liked playing his guitar. He was loved by everybody.”

She recalled his “great” sense of humour and how he loved to tease family members and friends.

Anderson obtained various jobs through an agency downtown, said Campbell, who helped raise her nephew and considered him a son.

They talked on the phone or exchanged text messages daily.

“The family really is shaken up about this,” she said.

Family and friends visited the scene of the homicide during a memorial walk and candlelight vigil Aug. 20.

Anderson’s death is one of several homicides or serious assaults to occur in the Point Douglas area this month.

In an unrelated case, two 15-year-old boys are accused of killing two people in a series of random attacks Aug. 22.

The teens are charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.

The two victims have been identified as Marvin William Felix, 54, and Danielle Dawn Ballantyne, 36.

Felix was found in a lane behind a hotel in the 600 block of Main Street at about 5 a.m. He died in hospital last Thursday.

About two hours after Felix was attacked, Ballantyne’s body was discovered in an apartment in the 100 block of Jarvis Avenue.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching