'I have no idea what actually happened': Mother 'in shock' after son charged in Nanaimo coffee shop killing
The mother of a 29-year-old man charged in what police are calling a random killing at a Vancouver Island coffee shop says she is shocked and remains in the dark about what happened that day.
James Carey Turok, of Nanaimo, B.C., appeared before a judge Sunday and was charged with one count of second-degree murder.
Mounties were called on Saturday morning to the Buzz Coffee House near the intersection of Rutherford Road and Island Highway in Nanaimo.
When officers arrived, they found one man dead and took another man into custody at the scene.
"I am in shock and at this point," Vida Turok, the accused's mother, told CTV News in a statement Tuesday.
"I have no idea what actually happened. I'm still in communications with the RCMP and am in the dark as you are. All I know is James is in custody."
Turok said she feels "tremendous sadness for everyone concerned," adding, "my heart aches for the family of the victim and my son."
She added that she has not been able to speak with her son since his arrest.
Investigators from the Nanaimo RCMP's serious crime unit executed two search warrants over the weekend in connection to the homicide.
On Sunday, police said they had found no evidence connecting the victim to the man they arrested.
"Investigators are confident that based on the evidence collected to date, there was no connection between the deceased and the individual arrested at the scene," said Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O'Brien in a statement.
"This was a random incident with a tragic outcome," he added.
Police have not released the identity of the victim.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.