St. Catharines stabbing marks Niagara’s fourth homicide of year

A suspect has been charged with second-degree murder after a 29-year-old man died following a stabbing in St. Catharines on Thursday night.

Niagara Regional Police officers and emergency personnel were called to the Old Pine Trail area at about 9:30 p.m. after a reported stabbing, where they found an injured man with no vital signs.

The victim was transported by Niagara Emergency Medical Service paramedics to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Police said a suspect was identified and arrested by detectives from the NRP homicide unit investigating the incident.

Keenan George, 28, of St. Catharines, has been charged with second degree murder.

Police said the victim and suspect were “known to each other,” and there is “no information at this time to suggest that there is an on-going risk to public safety.”

Witnesses in the area reported that two men were fighting when the stabbing occurred.

It was the fourth known homicide in the region this year.

Previous incidents include a shooting on Peaceful Avenue in St. Catharines on June 12 that claimed the life of one victim and injured two others. A teenager was killed on April 8 in a shooting near on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, that also injured two other victims under 18 years old.

No arrests have been made in either of those cases.

In Welland, a 50-year-old man was killed during an incident on Division Street, near Alexander Street on April 30, while a 68year-old victim sustained significant injuries. In that case, a 35-year-old suspect, Joel Dreaver, was charged with second-degree murder.

The investigation into the most recent homicide is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call acting staff sergeant Mike Tripp at 905688-4111, option 3, ext. 1009132 or report information anonymously through Crime Stoppers Niagara at 1-800- 2228477.