Hundreds of people gathered at a memorial to remember a young man killed in Victoria – just three months after he arrived in B.C.’s capital.
Daniel Jordan Levesque, 20, died from fatal wounds after an incident on the evening of Aug. 3. Joshua Tyler Bredo, 26, of Victoria, who was also in the condo that evening, was arrested and faces a possible murder charge. Crown counsel has yet to approve that charge. His next court date is Aug. 18.
At about 5 p.m. on Aug. 3, someone from the Corazon apartment building at 732 Cormorant St. called 911. Police and paramedics attended the scene. Levesque and Bredo were both rushed to Victoria General Hospital with unknown wounds, where Levesque, 20, later died from his injuries.
The incident was initially reported as a double-stabbing but is now being considered an altercation. The cause of Levesque’s death has not been determined but it is still being investigated as a homicide, said Const. Mike Russell of the Victoria police.
Russell called the scene “chaotic” when officers arrived. Initially, police had difficulties gaining access to the building, due to its security system. Eventually, a resident leaving the building let officers inside.
In the suite, both men were bleeding. Levesque was in critical condition. Bredo was in serious condition, but was conscious. He was released from hospital later that night and was transferred directly to police custody.
Russell said, “We don’t have any indication of motive right now. Our officers are waiting to interview this male and see where the investigation goes from there.”
Russell couldn’t confirm whether weapons were found in the suite, or what might have been used in the attack.
The memorial was held in Revelstoke on Friday – the community where Levesque grew up.
Levesque was a first-born child who was “quite loved and spoiled by everybody,” his mother Stacey Thur said in an interview. She described him as a “sweet little boy, very smart for his age, way beyond his years, talked a mile-a-minute, very chatty and friends with everybody.”
He was also one of the funniest people she knew. “He always made me laugh,” she said.
“Everybody loved him,” she told Black Press. “He was full of compassion and caring and he was loyal to a fault.”
For Thur, Levesque’s death is doubly hard to take; this is the second son she has lost. “I buried his brother 16 years ago. I wasn’t ready to bury another one.”
Music was always a big part of his life. He could sing before he could talk, his mother recalled, and once his report card from swimming lessons said, “Daniel needs to sing less and swim more.”
“Ever since I first met him he’s always been playing guitar,” said one of his best friends, Julian Romeo.
“He would always play the mom role, making sure we were all being safe” Romeo said. “He got me out of trouble a lot of times.”
Thur last saw Levesque last Sunday, just days before his death and she said life was going well for Levesque in Victoria. He recently had a piece of poetry published in Scratch Magazine and performed live around the city, including at the Baja Surf Grill on Yates Street.
The day of his death, he started a new job with a local law firm that would allow him to stay in the city he was starting to love, she said.