The Toronto man accused in the death of 22-year-old Tess Richey is now facing an upgraded charge of first-degree murder.
Toronto police elevated the charge on Wednesday, more than six weeks after the initial charge of second-degree murder was laid.
Richey’s mother found her daughter’s body outside a construction site in Toronto’s Church and Wellesley neighbourhood four days after she went missing following a night out at a bar with friends in November 2017.
Though police initially indicated that Richey’s death was not considered to be suspicious, an autopsy later revealed that she had died of “neck compression.”
The Toronto Police Service’s homicide unit took over the case in December and released images taken from a security camera of a suspect believed to be the last person to see Richey alive.
Previously, police said they believe Richey’s death was a crime of opportunity and that the suspect was on their radar early on in the investigation.
By February 4, a 21-year-old man was arrested at his west end Toronto home.
Richey and the man suspected of killing her met for the first time the night she died, police said.
A suspect identified as Kalen Schlatter was charged with second-degree murder in Richey’s death. That charge has since been upgraded to first-degree murder.
Schlatter is due to make an appearance in a Toronto court on Thursday.
Richey’s sister and mother took to Twitter on Wednesday to thank police for their work on the case.
“This is the best news we could hope for in this situation. Thank you Toronto Police detectives Ted Lioumanis and Graham Gibson for their tireless efforts in Tess’ case. Their diligence has brought Tess the justice she deserves and, we hold out hope, will continue to get throughout the court process,” Rachel Richey tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.
“Until that time we find strength in our remaining numbers and will continue to honour and remember Tess and the joy and love she brought to so many lives. She was the heart of our family.”
Richey’s case came amid a number of disappearances stemming from Toronto’s Church and Wellesley neighbourhood and LGBTQ community.
Her subsequent death, along with that of several gay men previously reported missing, stirred criticism about how police conduct missing persons cases.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders later announced that the force’s professional standards unit would look into the case and how it was handled.
Earlier this month, further in response to growing criticism, Saunders said a dedicated Toronto police missing persons unit is in the works.
Toronto Mayor John Tory is expected to formally call for an external review into the way Toronto Police Service handles missing persons reporters at a police services board meeting scheduled Thursday.
Speaking with CP24 on Wednesday night, Tory said changes on how missing persons cases are handled need to be made.
“(It will be) an external review that looks at the whole question of missing persons and how they are handled. It looks at best practices for missing persons and tries to figure out if there are flaws in the system, tries to figure out if there are elements of discrimination or bias involved in how the police look for missing persons against any group that has protections under the human rights code, including people in the LGBTQ community,” he said.
