Two teens charged in Main Street homicide By: Maggie Macintosh Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Oct. 18, 2019

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This article was published 17/10/2019 (1798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manslaughter charges have been laid against two teenage boys in the death of a man found this week unresponsive in a pool of blood in the middle of Main Street.

Neilson Catcheway, 40, died in hospital early Wednesday after he was assaulted, fell from a train overpass, and was run over by a vehicle driving northbound on Main between Higgins and Sutherland avenues.

The exact cause of death remains unclear as Winnipeg police continue to investigate the homicide.

On Friday, police announced detectives had charged a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old with one count each of manslaughter. The two boys were detained in custody.

“It’s shocking,” Const. Rob Carver said about the ages of the accused during a phone interview Friday afternoon. “I think it’s shocking to officers and it’s shocking to the community.”

“I think it’s shocking to officers and it’s shocking to the community.” – WPS Constable Rob Carver

Carver said the “precursor” to the homicide was an attempted robbery, which began the interaction between the victim and two accused.

He could not confirm whether police believe Catcheway was pushed off the ledge or if he fell from it prior to the hit-and-run. Police are still searching for the driver of the vehicle that hit Catcheway.

Long-time Point Douglas resident and community advocate Sel Burrows called the incident “horrendous.”

“We are paying the price for lack of attention to the inner city,” Burrows said Friday.

More community agencies that serve youth, as well as outreach and recreation programs, need to run past 4:30 p.m., he said. “If you take a look at what goes on on weeknights, weekends, that’s when there are problems — and then the only people available are the police, emergency rooms, fire departments.”

On Thursday night, Damon Johnston attended a Winnipeg Indigenous Executive Circle meeting, alongside representatives from nearly two dozen local agencies — many of which are located in the North End. Johnston sits on the Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre board.

“It’s growing like a weed,” he said about the need for culturally-appropriate youth services in Winnipeg’s North End.

“(Agencies) are struggling to meet demand in every place. (Indigenous peoples are) the fastest-growing population in the city. In many areas, we’re the most needy population, in terms of addressing issues that are rising out of poverty, child and family system, all those kinds of things.”

“We are paying the price for lack of attention to the inner city.” – Sel Burrows, Point Douglas resident and community advocate

Federal funding is critical, Johnston said, adding organizations are anxiously awaiting the results of Monday’s election to find out about the future of their relationship with the next government.

The executive director of neighbourhood drop-in centre Rossbrook House, Phil Chiappetta, listed a number of places youth and their families can access services in the area: Ma Mawi Chi Itata Centre, Graffiti Art Programming, Andrew Street Family Centre, and Ka Ni Kanichihk, among others.

He said in a statement Friday the importance of such places “cannot be overstated.”

“Behind acts of violence, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and a myriad of destructive behaviors is always a great deal of pain — a sense of not belonging and a bleak outlook for one’s future,” Chiappetta said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Winnipeg Free Press. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

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