Halifax police have charged Tyrell Peter Dechamp with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Tyler Richards and Naricho Clayton.
Investigators with the homicide unit of the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division laid the charges against Dechamp, 27, Saturday morning, a day after he was arrested at Renous Institution in northern New Brunswick. He was also charged with one count of attempted murder.
On the evening of April 17, 2016, police responded to a report that a dead man had been located in a home in the 6900 block of Cook Avenue in Halifax. Officers found 29-year-old Tyler Richards deceased inside the residence. The death of the former St. Francis Xavier University basketball star was later ruled a homicide.
Two days later, police were called to the 2000 block of Gottingen Street after multiple reports of shots being fired. There, they found two men inside a vehicle who had been shot. Naricho Clayton, 23, from Dartmouth was pronounced dead at the scene and his death was also ruled a homicide. A 31-year-old-man originally from Halifax was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
“We hope that the charges announced today will bring some measure of comfort to Tyler and Naricho’s family and their friends, as well as the surviving victim,” Supt. Jim Perrin told reporters Saturday morning at police headquarters.
Police were releasing few details about the evidence in what Perrin called a complex investigation, including what might have been found during searches of a Dartmouth pond.
However, he said, the case is still open despite the arrest and charges more than 18 months after the shootings and police are “open to the possibility that other people may have been involved.”
“Laying of a first-degree murder charge is the most serious charge that police
investigate and we want to make sure our case is as strong as possible before we advance it to that point, and we felt we were in a good position to proceed yesterday,” Perrin said.
“These cases remain under investigation and we continue to gain evidence, and we certainly encourage anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers or to contact us directly.”
He also refused to say what the motive might have been.
“We’re not going to get into the particulars ofwhat caused these homicides,
but we will confirm that we believe that all parties are known to each other,” the superintendent said. Dechamp will appear in Halifax provincial court on Monday to face the murder and attempted murder charges, as well as a charge of being unlawfully at large in relation to a Canadawide arrest warrant that was issued on April 25, 2016.
The investigation is ongoing and police are asking anyone with information about these incidents to call 902-490-5020.