Winnipeg police charge Melissa Gabriel, 35, with manslaughter
Dog injured, 89-year-old woman stabbed multiple times in her upper body, police say
Winnipeg police have laid charges in the stabbing death of an elderly woman in St. Boniface over the weekend.
Police were called to the 400 block of Tremblay Street at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
When they arrived, police said the caller appeared drunk. She was arrested, and due to the circumstances investigators did a sweep of the area.
Police found the body of an 89-year-old woman in her home in the neighbourhood. Her identity won't be released to the public until her family is notified.
Investigators said they believe Melissa Joyce Gabriel, 35, stabbed the woman multiple times in the upper body sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. After leaving the home, police said Gabriel returned home and attacked her dog.
Gabriel has been charged with manslaughter, killing or injuring an animal and two counts of probation violation.
Demanded to be let in
Investigators said Gabriel made the 911 call Sunday, but she's not the only one who called police.
Helen Gregorchuk lives in the neighbrouhood and spoke with CBC News Sunday while investigators were on the scene. Gregorchuk said she awoke at about 1 a.m. Sunday to a woman banging on her door, demanding to be let into the house.
Gregorchuk opened the window and asked the woman who she was. When she wouldn't answer, Gregorchuk called police.
"I watched the cops come in," she said, adding police then walked the woman, who they put in handcuffs, from the home and into the back of a police cruiser.
Gabriel and the victim were acquaintances, police said. She remains in custody.