Man charged in alleged murder of girlfriend in Brampton

Peel police say a man now facing a murder charge in the death of his long-time girlfriend had repeatedly breached a judicial order barring him from being in contact with her.

Officers were called to the area of Deerpark Crescent and Fairglen Avenue around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and found a man and woman both suffering from gunshot wounds.

The woman was pronounced dead on the scene. She has been identified as Darian Hailey Henderson-Bellman, 25, of Halton Hills.

The man, identified as Darnell Reid, was rushed to hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Reid, of Brampton, has been charged with second-degree murder, possession of a loaded firearm and two counts of failure to comply with a release order.

Police say the accused and the victim had been in a relationship for about three years. The suspect had been out on an interim judicial release stemming from a previous domestic violence incident between the two of them.

Since the charge, police say he had been arrested on four separate occasions for breaching terms of his release by being in contact with her.

Chief Nishan Duraiaippah in a release said this was a tragic outcome for a young person and extend his condolences to her loved ones.

“In this incident, the sadness I feel for the victim and her family is mixed with frustration for a complete failure of our justice system to protect her,” he said. “The family and police struggled to keep her safe.”

Reid had also been arrested in May of 2020 for possession of an illegal firearm. He was released after six days in custody with a GPS monitoring device.

“This was despite clear concerns regarding his risk to the victim, the community and the potential to continue to re-offend,” said Duraiaippah. “This unacceptable failure is becoming entirely too familiar in our communities. Collectively we need to do better.”

With files from The Canadian Press