Boys charged with 2nd-degree murder in death of Winnipeg man

Two teen boys, aged 16 and 14, are charged with second-degree murder in the death of Canon Franklin Beardy, who was found critically injured in a Winnipeg home and later died in hospital.

The 16-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday and is also charged with possession of proceeds of crime, flight from police and a number of related offences.

The 14-year-old was arrested last month.

Police are also looking for 19-year-old Joshua Leclerc and have issued an arrest warrant for him to face second-degree murder charges.

Beardy, 28, was found inside a duplex on Magnus Avenue, between Powers and Andrews streets, on Feb. 6. He was "suffering from multiple serious injuries" and rushed to hospital, where he died, police said.

Police spokesperson Const. Rob Carver doesn't know if there was any previous relationship between Beardy and the three people accused in his death.

However, Leclerc is known to police from previous incidents and police suspect someone might be helping to hide him.

"Typically, when someone is avoiding police, people know where he is. It's very rare that someone has completely gone off the grid and no one knows," he said.

"Just on the basis of probabilities, I'm going to say it would be our assumption that someone knows where this individual is."

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Leclerc is asked to call the police service's Homicide Unit at 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

Any little "tidbit" is valuable in helping complete the bigger picture, Carver said.