Nord-du-Québec: released by the court after a possible ax attack, he allegedly beat his own grandmother to death

An 18-year-old man from Nord-du-Québec is suspected of beating his own grandmother to death just a month after being released despite charges of sexual assault and an ax attack.

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“It could have been avoided if we had detained this man,” said Patrice Abel, head of investigations at the Nunavik Police Department, by phone.

“There are too many cases, unfortunately, where violence escalates, and then we turn it off [les accusés] out,” he laments.

The death of Minnie Ivilla, 63, pushes the police to deny the flaws in the courts in the Scandinavian region.

This is because Alex Amittuq, the victim’s grandson, had just been released when he allegedly brutally beat her on October 23.

Conflict had erupted in the woman’s residence in Puvirnituq, a town of more than 2,000 souls.

Drunk, he apparently attacked her with a steel-toed shoe, we learnt. She succumbed to her injuries last Friday after falling into a coma.

Alex Amittuq allegedly beat his own grandmother, Minnie Ivilla, in this residence in Puvirnituq, a town of more than 2,000 souls in Nord-du-Québec, last October. The 63-year-old woman was recently injured.

Photo provided by Nunavik police

Growing violent

However, the young man was already facing serious charges.

He is suspected of sexually assaulting, assaulting and threatening a 17-year-old victim on July 23, he noted The Diary.

Seven days later, Amittuq was drinking heavily with his brother until a dispute broke out.

Enraged, the accused allegedly hit the then 28-year-old man on the head with an ax and left him in a pool of blood. Other bloody items were seized at the scene by the police.

Police found a bloody scene after the altar.

Photo provided by Nunavik police

According to the Director of Criminal Prosecutions and Penalty (DPCP), Amittuq was released for the first time around mid-August.

Alex Amittuq was arrested in the following weeks for non-compliance with conditions, the DPCP said.

After an investigation into his release, the accused was released on September 19.

In all cases, “the position of the public prosecutor was that Mr. Amittuq was a danger to society. We opposed his release,” he said Iris m^e Laurence Robert-Lavigne, of the Crown.

The location of the alleged ax attack.

Photo provided by Nunavik police

The alleged attack on his grandmother the following month led to charges of aggravated assault. Since the case is now being considered a murder, the Sûreté du Québec took over the investigation.

It overflows

In the eyes of the police officer Patrice Abel, this case gives more weight to the spectacles that disturb the population of Nord-du-Québec: alcohol, drugs and violence.

“At one point, violent crime in the north [de la province] become more common than in the south, because we have a lot of them,” he says.

Local authorities also have to deal with logistical issues such as overcrowded cells, which lead to suspects being airlifted to the area.

“The entire judicial system should be remodeled, reconsidered in Nunavik,” affirms Patrice Abel.

• Minnie Ivilla’s death brings to 24 the number of women who have been murdered this year in Quebec.