Charges have been laid against a 21-year-old Surrey man in connection to a fatal Coquitlam stabbing from nearly a year ago.
Homicide investigators said Jeffrey Stevens was charged with second degree murder and aggravated assault today (Jan. 21).
The Maillardville incident in February 2022 claimed the life of Terry Miller, who died in hospital at the age of 66, and severely injured a second surviving victim — allegedly his eldest son.
Stevens was safely arrested on Friday (Jan. 20) after an 11-month extensive case was conducted by local and regional Mounties.
"Yesterday's arrest followed a year of dedicated work by investigators," explained Sgt. Timothy Pierotti, spokesperson for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) in a statement.
"I'm proud of the hard work of the investigators who were committed to seeing this through."
The homicide took place on Feb. 10 in the area of 228 Schoolhouse St. — a strip mall just north of Lougheed Highway — where Coquitlam Mounties were called to reports of a man suffering from stab wounds around 8:15 p.m.
First responders rushed him to hospital to be treated for life-threatening injuries, while RCMP taped off a large section of the parking lot to collect and examine evidence.
IHIT took lead on the investigation, which was believed to be targeted.
Miller was identified as the victim and died of his wounds almost two weeks later on Feb. 22.
Stevens is set to make an appearance in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court on Monday (Jan. 23). As a result, Periotti added that no other information is being released at this time.
The BC Prosecution Service laid a second degree murder charge against Stevens for Miller's murder, as well as a count of aggravated assault in relation to the second victim.
The case was a joint effort between IHIT, Coquitlam RCMP, BC Coroners Service and the RCMP Integrated Forensic Identification Section.
