Thunder Bay police charge man with 2nd degree murder in killing of Braiden Jacob

The Thunder Bay Police Service said Friday that a man has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of 17-year-old Braiden Jacob.

Police said the 22-year-old suspect was arrested shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday and faces a charge of second-degree murder. He is scheduled to appear in court on Saturday.

Jacob's body was found on Dec. 9 shortly after 11:30 a.m. near the southern portion of Chapples Park in Thunder Bay.

A postmortem examination took place in Toronto on Thursday, identifying the body as that of Jacob, who is from Webequie First Nation and was reported missing to Thunder Bay police on Dec. 6.

Thunder Bay police Acting Deputy Chief Don Lewis said Friday the postmortem results indicated a homicide had taken place.

"There was ... some trauma," Lewis said. "Unfortunately, I can't get into the specifics, because it is now important evidence that's part of the investigation."

Lewis said police are now conducting interviews and going through evidence and information, and are investigating locations both inside and outside of Thunder Bay.

"It's by no means without direction, or a still investigation," he said. "It's very fluid and ongoing."

Jacob's death is believed to be the eighth homicide of 2018 in Thunder Bay, and comes amid increased scrutiny of the city's police force following a report that was highly critical of the TBPS's "inadequacies" in regards to its investigations into the deaths of nine Indigenous people.