Alberta police charge man with murder of Inuk partner, continue search for couple’s daughter

Police in Alberta are looking for a nine-month-old girl after her mother was found dead in their apartment in St. Albert, Alta. They charged the woman’s common-law partner — the father of the missing girl — with second-degree murder.

On Jan. 23, RCMP officers found Ayla Egotik-Learn, 23, dead after they were called to the apartment block by a building employee who reported discovering what RCMP Insp. Wayne Stevenson called a “suspicious item.”

Police later determined the item contained human remains. The RCMP’s major crimes unit then took over the case.

Originally from Cambridge Bay, Egotik-Learn had moved to St. Albert in 2024.

Police made the announcement during a news conference Thursday at the RCMP’s Edmonton headquarters. Police provided Nunatsiaq News a recording of the news conference.

The employee who discovered the item had entered the home to carry out an eviction order.

Police believe Egotik-Learn was killed sometime in early December, Stevenson said.

After discovering Egotik-Learn’s body, officers learned her nine-month-old daughter, Braylee Beasley, was missing. Since that time, they have been trying to find her.

Though the search is ongoing, police believe the young girl is likely dead, Stevenson said at the news conference.

Investigators have a strong suspicion of where her remains may be, Stevenson added without elaborating.

On Thursday, police found Egotik-Learn’s 33-year-old common-law partner, Christopher William Beasley, who is the father of the missing girl, at a St. Albert hotel. They charged him with second-degree murder and two counts of indignity to a human body — one against Egotik-Learn and one against their daughter.

Egotik-Learn became involved in a relationship with Beasley in April 2024 around the same time the couple moved into the apartment where her body was later found, Sgt. James McConnell said at the conference.

As the matter is before the courts, police would not disclose how she died. However, Beasley was known to the RCMP, McConnell said.

McConnell said the “gravity” and “impact” of this crime will be felt for a long time by the people of St. Albert and by the officers investigating it.

Egotik-Learn’s family and friends have “suffered an absolutely tragic loss,” Insp. Aaron White said.

Beasley’s next scheduled court date is Feb. 2, at the Alberta Court of Justice in St. Albert.