Mounties in the Comox Valley have laid a first degree murder charnge against a Cumberland man, for his alleged role in a fatal hit and run. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

murder charge

First-degree murder charge laid in Courtenay fatal hit and run

Feb 12, 2024 | 11:37 AM

COURTENAY — A man with no prior criminal record now faces first-degree murder following a fatal hit and run.

Steven Henry Squires was formally charged over the weekend with first-degree murder, as well as failing to stop after an accident, following a Thursday, Feb. 8 incident along the Comox Valley Parkway near Minto Rd. in Courtenay.

Mounties allege Squires was behind the wheel of the vehicle which hit and ultimately killed Rod Kelly as he was riding along the roadway between Courtenay and Cumberland.

“Emergency Health Services paramedics and Cumberland Fire Department firefighters attended and provided emergency first aid to the victim; however, unfortunately, after being transported to the hospital, he died as a result of his injuries,” RCMP noted in a release.

In the days since the incident, investigators were able to locate a vehicle connected to the crash.

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Squires was arrested Saturday, Feb. 10 in the Comox Valley.

He remains in custody.

The forwarding of a first-degree murder charge indicates investigators believe Squires conducted pre-planning and had made deliberate actions to kill Kelly.

A lesser murder charge, second-degree, indicates an element of deliberate action without pre-planning. Manslaughter would suggest investigators considered the death neither planned nor deliberate.

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