A 19-year-old international student is facing first-degree murder charges after a mother, her four young children and a family friend were all found dead in an Ottawa suburb.
Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old international student who had been living with the family, was to appear in court Thursday. Police say he faces six charges of first-degree murder.
“This was a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people,” said Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs, who said a knife or other edged weapon was used in the attack.
De-Zoysa, a Sri Lankan national, was in Canada as a student, police said. He also faces one count of attempted murder in connection with the family’s father, who survived the rampage.
De-Zoysa appeared in an Ottawa courtroom Thursday afternoon in what looked like a clean, shiny black track shirt.
He mumbled his assent as the justice of the peace Andrew Seymour ordered him not to speak to the father who survived the attack, or to four other witnesses who provided statements to the police.
His case was adjourned until March 13 to give him time to find a lawyer.
The dead include Darshani Ekanyake, 35, along with her seven-year-old son, Inuka Wickramasinghe, and her three daughters: Ashwini, 4; two-year-old Rinyana; and Kelly, a two-and-a-half-month-old baby.
.
© Copyright RawNews1st
