Man charged with second-degree murder after woman's death in Sicamous, B.C.

SICAMOUS, B.C. — A man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman that prompted Mounties in Sicamous, B.C., to issue a safety warning last week.

The RCMP Southeast District Major Crime Unit says provincial prosecutors approved the charge against the 37-year-old man on Monday, five days after he was initially arrested.

The Mounties say paramedics tried to save 66-year-old Jo Ann Jackson, who was found unresponsive in the driveway of a mobile home park just outside Sicamous last Thursday, but she was subsequently pronounced dead at the scene.

RCMP say officers arrested a male suspect who was released from custody the next day on what they described as an "undertaking for manslaughter with several preventative conditions," including a ban on returning to the mobile home park.

At the time, the Mounties said Jackson's death was believed to be an isolated incident, but investigators believed "there could be a potential public safety risk."

The latest RCMP statement says the man was arrested again on Monday after prosecutors approved the second-degree murder charge against him, and he will be held in custody pending an application for a bail hearing in B.C. Supreme Court.

Police say the man from Sicamous, about 140 kilometres east of Kamloops, has an appearance scheduled in provincial court in the community on July 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2024.

The Canadian Press