Edmonton man charged with 2nd-degree murder in stabbing of 7-year-old girl
Janice Johnston | CBC News | Posted: May 20, 2020 5:18 PM | Last Updated: May 21, 2020
Tattoo artist David Michael Moss has no prior criminal convictions, records show
An Edmonton man has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of seven-year-old Bella Rose Desrosiers.
David Michael Moss, 34, was scheduled to make his first appearance before provincial court Judge Elizabeth Johnson in Edmonton on Wednesday morning but did not appear, according to court documents.
The victim's mother, Melissa Desrosiers, described Moss as a friend and said he was having a personal crisis on Monday.
Desrosiers told CBC News she convinced Moss to get help and brought him into her home. She said she planned to take him to the hospital either Monday night or Tuesday.
She said she was putting her daughters to bed when Moss suddenly lunged into the bedroom with a pair of scissors.
Police were called to her Mill Woods home in southeast Edmonton at 8:45 p.m. MT.
"It was reported that Moss stabbed the child in front of her mother," police said Wednesday in a news release. "The mother tried to intervene and attempted CPR until paramedics arrived on scene. The girl was pronounced deceased at the scene."
Police said they arrested Moss at the scene that night without incident. He remains in custody.
According to court records, Moss has no prior criminal convictions.
His next scheduled court appearance is Friday morning.
'Horrible, horrible crime'
Moss is an Edmonton tattoo artist who launched his own business with his wife last year, though it was shut down due to the pandemic.
"He's locked down and he has four kids," fellow tattoo artist Frank Urbanovitch told CBC News. "He was really, really behind on bills."
Urbanovitch described Moss as a family man.
"It's a horrible, horrible crime," he said. "A little girl died. I've got 21 grandkids. Kids are my life. I'm heartbroken in all this.
"But this is not David. This is not the David I knew."
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Urbanovitch's grandson, Xavier Doucet, began working with Moss in January as an apprentice.
Doucet said he became increasingly concerned about Moss's mental state.
"I could tell he was slowly slipping and he was venting about his stress, but I didn't know this is where it would end up," he said.