A 47-year-old man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the hit-and-run death of a cyclist on Vancouver Island. Steven Squires of Cumberland, B.C., entered a guilty plea last week in the 2024 death of Rodney Kelly, who was struck and killed near Courtenay, according to police. Homicide investigators took conduct of the case shortly after the Feb. 8, 2024, collision on the Comox Valley Parkway near Minto Road. Kelly was found injured on the side of the road by a passerby who called 911 just before 11 p.m. that evening. His red and white Specialized bicycle was discovered nearby. Kelly was transported to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Squires was arrested in the Comox Valley two days later and charged with first-degree murder and failing to stop after an accident causing death. In a brief update Monday, Cpl. Alex Bérubé of the Vancouver Island District RCMP said a sentencing hearing for Squires “will be taking place on a later date.”
