'Nothing we could do to keep her from him': Girl, 16, shot to death in Grande Prairie, boyfriend charged

RCMP in Grande Prairie have charged a 19-year-old man in connection with the weekend shooting death of his teenage girlfriend.

Four other men have also been arrested in connection with the death of Hannah Sutton.

The 16-year-old was found dead at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16, at an apartment in the area of 94th Avenue and 100th Street.

Some of Sutton's Christmas presents arrived at the family home in Grande Prairie that same day, including a set of Christmas pyjamas. As soon as her sister-in-law Felicity Jagodzinsky found out about Hannah's death, she instantly started to cry.

"Those kinds of things really make me upset because it reminds me that she should have been here, you know?," she said.

Boyfriend charged with second-degree murder

Hannah's boyfriend ​Justice Watt-Blais, 19, of Grande Prairie, was arrested on Wednesday and has been charged with second-degree murder. Four other men have been arrested and charges are pending against them for being accessories after the fact to murder.

Watt-Blais and Hannah's brother Dylan Sutton were best friends for a time. The two were so close that, in 2014, Watt-Blais moved in with the Suttons for about a year in their Grande Prairie home, Jagodzinksky said.

That was when Hannah Sutton fell in love with Watt-Blais despite their three-year age difference, she added.

"There was nothing we could do to keep her from him," she said. "When she believed in something, she believed in it deeply, so she wasn't going to be away from him no matter what we said." 

The couple started dating in September 2016 after Watt-Blais was released from jail, Jagodzinsky said, adding that Watt-Blais and Sutton would often argue.

'She definitely made her mark'

Sutton and Watt-Blais drove to Grande Prairie last weekend to house sit a friend's apartment, Jagodzinsky said. The family has received several possible scenarios from police about the events leading up to Sutton's death.

The family is planning a candlelight vigil with balloons with personal messages attached that will be released into the sky in her memory. As well, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with funeral costs.

"I know there would be a huge turnout for this," Jagodzinsky said. "When Hannah was here, she definitely made her mark."

Watt-Blais is due to appear in Grande Prairie Provincial Court on Jan. 3, 2018.