Police identify Winnipeg's latest homicide victims

Winnipeg police have released the names of two men killed in a multiple stabbing incident on the weekend.

Jessie Edward Henderson and Dennis Ray Baptiste, both 23 and residents of Winnipeg, died early Saturday following an incident at a six-unit apartment building in the 700 block of Maryland Street.

Const. Jacqueline Chaput says the two victims had ties to the same gang and were known to police. She said it doesn't appear the two killed each other, and police are trying to get to the bottom of a fire that had been set in the residence where the two victims were found. 

The Winnipeg Police Service homicide unit continues to interview a number of witnesses in relation to the incident, police said.

The deaths are the city's fifth and sixth homicides this year. So far, charges have been laid in three of the homicides.

A 41-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder in the city's 4th homicide.

In that case, the body of Alinda Lahteenmaki, 23, was found at the base of a Hargrave Street high-rise early Friday morning. She had fallen from the 11th floor to her death.

Police Const. Robert Carver said it is very unusual for the city to have experienced so many homicides in one month.

"It's been a very difficult month both for the city and certainly our homicide detectives who have been working extremely hard over the past few weeks," said Carver. "It's very unusual, this is a high number."

Anyone with information concerning the deaths of Henderson and Baptiste is asked to contact investigators at 986-6508, CrimeStoppers at 786-TIPS(8477) or the police non-emergency line at 986-6222.