15-year-old now wanted in 2 Point Douglas homicides after assault victim dies: Winnipeg police

UPDATE: A court order allowed media outlets to name the teen wanted in these killings for a short period of time because he was wanted on a warrant. That order ended after police announced the teen's arrest on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022.

The victim in one of two serious assaults in Winnipeg's Point Douglas neighbourhood on Monday has died, police said Friday, as they released the name and photo of a teen who is now wanted in connection with two homicides.

Marvin William Felix, 54, was assaulted around 5 a.m. Monday on Main Street between Logan and Higgins avenues, and was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Police said at a Friday afternoon news conference that he had died overnight.

They also released a photo and description of a 15-year-old boy, one of two people now charged with second-degree murder in Felix's death and in the death of Danielle Dawn Ballantyne, 36, whose body was found in a Point Douglas apartment building Monday morning.

Although the teen is a youth, a court authorized the release of his name and image because a Canada-wide warrant was issued for his arrest.

The other suspect is also a 15-year-old boy. He was arrested on Wednesday and initially charged with second-degree murder in Ballantyne's death, and two counts of aggravated assault. The charge in connection with Felix's assault has now been upgraded to a second-degree charge, police said Friday.

About a half-hour before Felix was attacked, another man in his 50s was also seriously assaulted. He was found with traumatic injuries in a parking lot on Main between Jarvis and Sutherland avenues, two blocks north of where Felix was found, around 4:30 a.m. Monday.

The attacks against Ballantyne, Felix and the other man all appear to have been random, police say.

Another assault was reported in the area around 5:30 a.m. Monday, when an injured man in his 50s flagged down officers in the nearby area of Logan Avenue and the Disraeli Freeway. He was taken to hospital in stable condition.

That assault is still under investigation, police said. They believe it's part of the earlier cluster of assaults, but investigators don't know whether the two teens were involved in that incident.

WATCH | 'We are rocked by these incidents,' says Winnipeg police spokesperson:

Winnipeg police 'rocked' by violent attacks

2 years ago

Duration 0:27

Winnipeg police Const. Dani McKinnon says officers were also upset after a series of random attacks on people in the early hours of Monday, Aug. 25, in the Point Douglas neighbourhood. Two people have died and two teens are wanted in their deaths as well as a third attack.

Const. Dani McKinnon, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service, was visibly shaken as she spoke at the news conference Friday.

"I'm supposed to come up here and make the community feel at ease," she said.

"We are rocked by these incidents. It's shocking that two homicides have [allegedly] happened at the hands of two youths for completely unknown reasons at this time."

The investigation into the string of attacks is ongoing, "but there may be other suspects involved as well," she said.