Man who killed girlfriend had been charged with assaulting her

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An 18-year-old man who fatally stabbed his girlfriend before he was shot and killed last week by London police had been ordered to stay away from her after he was charged with assaulting her in March, court records say.

Ontario’s police watchdog is probing the deadly encounter that began at about 11 p.m. on July 16 after police responded to a reported stabbing at 86 Wellesley Cres., southwest of Veterans Memorial Parkway and Trafalgar Street. Officers found a man armed with a knife inside the home, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said.

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There was an interaction and two officers fired their guns at the man, who died later in hospital, the SIU said.

Breanna Broadfoot, 17, was taken to hospital with critical injuries and died two day later.

A 22-year-old man was treated and released from hospital.

London police said a caller to 911 said multiple people had been stabbed by a male suspect who was later shot by police.

Broadfoot’s family told CBC London the man shot by police was Broadfoot’s boyfriend of roughly eight months, but they didn’t name him.

Court documents identify him as Kuhkpaw Moo and show he faced charges of assault and assault with choking after an alleged March 14 attack on Broadfoot.

Moo, whose address is listed as the Wellesley Crescent home where he was shot, was arrested the next day and released on an undertaking, a document created by either a court or police that puts an accused under certain conditions, the documents say.

Under his release conditions, Moo was ordered not to contact Broadfoot, go within 50 metres of her home, workplace or school, or possess weapons, the documents say.

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Moo’s last court appearance was July 3 and he was scheduled to return to court July 31. His lawyer declined comment Wednesday.

Broadfoot’s death, the fourth homicide in London this year, is the city’s second alleged femicide – the killing of women and girls because of their gender – in less than a month.

George Curtis, 44, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend Cheryl Sheldon, 62, who was found with life-threatening injuries at an apartment at 345 Wharncliffe Rd. N. on June 22. The death drew condemnation from women’s advocates and politicians.

The head of the London Abused Women’s Centre said she’s not surprised to hear that Moo was facing charges for an alleged prior assault on Broadfoot.

“We’re at a place where more and more violence is occurring,” executive director Jennifer Dunn said. “It’s very unfortunate that this young woman had to experience that kind of violence and then months later lost her life.”

The case highlights the need for governments at all levels and communities to do more to battle the intimate partner epidemic in Ontario, Dunn said.

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“So we need to look at are the resources that communities have, are they properly funded? We know the answer is no because there’s no shelter in the city that has appropriate space for women to just call and there’s a bed available,” she said.

In April, the provincial New Democrats tabled a bill that simply declares intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario. The Progressive Conservative government has asked a committee to examine intimate partner violence and return with recommendations.

Education and prevention are key to combatting intimate partner violence, especially among young people, Dunn said, noting females under the age of 24 are at the highest risk for experiencing domestic violence and human trafficking.

“So youth are really at risk,” she said.

Dunn and other women’s agencies worked with the Thames Valley District school board to provide supports Monday at a traumatic response event at Sir Frederick Banting secondary school, where Broadfoot was a student.

“There’s always more that needs to be done to make things better for the future,” Dunn said.

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Moo is the fifth person fatally shot by London police in the last 25 years and the youngest to die by police gunfire in the city. All officers involved in the prior deadly encounters were cleared of wrongdoing.

A Celebration of life for Broadfoot is being held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Northview Funeral Chapel and Cremation Centre, 1490 Highbury Ave., followed by an 8 p.m. candlelight vigil in Ed Blake Park at 449 Barker St.

Broadfoot’s mother Jessica posted a video on Facebook Saturday showing her and her husband walking down a hospital corridor lined with nurses and doctors before her daughter’s organs were donated.

“We are all so proud of her achieving her goal, always the helper. Your heart never stopped beating, baby girl,” Jessica Broadfoot wrote.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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