A Toronto man accused in the death of Tess Richey appeared in court this morning but was not formally arraigned on an upgraded charge of first-degree murder.
Kalen Schlatter, 21, was initially charged with second-degree murder in Richey’s death but on Wednesday police announced that the charge would be upgraded to first-degree murder.
On Thursday, Schlatter appeared in court at College Park and was remanded into custody until his next appearance via video on April 23. Schlatter was not formally arraigned on the upgraded charge during the brief appearance.
Richey, 22, was reported missing on Nov. 25, 2017 after a night out with a friend at a bar in the in the city’s Church-Wellesley neighbourhood.
Four days later, her mother found her body in an outdoor stairwell of a building under construction in the area of Church and Dundonald streets.
Police initially said Richey’s death was not considered suspicious; however the homicide unit later took over the case after an autopsy revealed that she died of neck compression.
Schlatter was then arrested on the night of Feb. 4, months after police released surveillance camera images of the man that Richey was last seen with.
