Ivujivik woman charged in Montreal stabbing death

Jessie Quannaaluk, 55, was charged with second degree murder Feb. 18. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SPVM)

An Inuk woman living in Montreal has been charged with the second degree murder of a man she was in a relationship with.

Montreal police arrested Jessie Quannaaluk on Feb. 17, said Montreal police spokesman Jean-Pierre Brabant -— a day after police discovered a 57-year-old man with stab wounds in an apartment in the city’s Verdun neighbourhood.

The victim, identified as Paul Brown, was declared dead at the scene.

Quannaaluk, 55, was charged with second-degree murder at the Montreal courthouse Feb. 18.

Quannaaluk, originally from the Nunavik community of Ivujivik, has lived in Montreal for about 10 years.

She was a regular client at Chez Doris, a Montreal day shelter for women, which offers support for Inuit women in difficulty.

Quannaaluk gave a recent interview to the Montreal French-language newspaper Le Journal de Montréal from the shelter, where she described Brown as a violent person.

According to the newspaper, Brown had been in court on the day he was killed to respond to sexual assault charges against two minors.

In the interview, Quannaaluk also accused Brown of cutting up her health card, preventing her from seeking treatment for cancer.

Quannaaluk appears in court again March 6.