Nearly 20 months after a Calgary woman’s body was discovered near Okotoks, Alta., the RCMP have announced that a fifth person has been charged in connection with her death.
On March 30, 2023, the body of 37-year-old Tara Miller was found near Highway 522 and 128th Street. Her death was deemed a homicide by police.
Four people have already been arrested and charged in connection with the crime, and on Friday the RCMP said 32-year-old Ahmed Chehade of Calgary has been charged with manslaughter. He was arrested by the RCMP on Thursday with help from the Calgary Police Service.
Chehade is scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Monday.
Of the other four people charged in the case, three are accused of manslaughter and one is accused of first-degree murder.
In 2023, Garnita Van Tassell, Miller’s mother, spoke with Global News a month after her daughter’s remains were discovered. She said she remembers her daughter as “a free spirit.”
“She would help anybody with food or clothes or a place to sleep — she’d do anything for anybody. We loved her.”
Van Tassell said her daughter had led a high-risk lifestyle and suffered from drug addiction, but had recently enrolled in online classes and was determined to turn her life around.
— with files from Global News’ Sarah Offin and Jayme Doll