Police in Hamilton have made an arrest and identified the woman shot and killed outside a townhouse on Monday night.
Thirty-six-year-old Natasha Thompson was found shot outside a townhouse complex on 17 Lang Street, near Red Hill Valley Parkway and Queenston Road, shortly after 5 p.m.
“Police administered and rendered first aid to try and save her life,” Det. Peter Thom told reporters on Tuesday. “Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter and conveyed her to Hamilton General.”
She died upon arrival at the hospital.
Thom said police believe this was a domestic incident.
Police believe an argument broke out between the victim and suspect inside the townhouse prior to the shooting.
Once outside, the woman was shot several times.
While the victim is not believed to be resident at the townhouse, Thom said Thompson’s 16-year-old daughter was inside when the gunfire erupted.
“She did not witness the murder but she heard what led up to it and the gunshots,” he said.
The woman’s 11-year-old daughter was not at home at the time. Both children are currently in the care of family members, Thom said, and are being “well taken care of.”
Witnesses told police that they saw a suspect flee the area on foot shortly after the shots were fired, cutting through backyards near Melvin and Parkdale avenues in the process.
Investigators are asking anyone living in the vicinity of the townhouse or the aforementioned streets to check their security cameras for any footage of the incident.
A suspect identified as Mark Joseph Champagne turned himself in to Toronto Police Service’s 41 Division at around 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Champagne has since been charged with second degree murder.
He appeared in a Hamilton courtroom this morning on the charge.
Thom said the couple had been together since around April.
Homicide detectives have executed two search warrants at the townhouse and are still searching for the murder weapon.
If it is not recovered during the search of the townhouse, Thom said investigators may expand their search through the neighbourhood where Champagne was last seen running through.
