BEHCHOKO/YELLOWKNIFE
Behchoko mourned Oct. 5 as residents came out to remember the life of Elvis Lafferty, who died in an alleged attack in Yellowknife during the early morning hours of Sept. 28.

Lafferty was born in Wekweeti and went to Chief Jimmy Bruneau School in Behchoko.

A man has been charged with second degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault as a result of the incident.

Charges were laid against Kevin Mantla, 36, on Sept. 29. He is being held in custody and is scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 10.

Court files show Mantla was due to go on trial Oct. 14 on charges of impaired driving, failing to provide a breath sample, driving while disqualified and breaching probation.

Those crimes are alleged to have occurred on March 12 of this year.

He has convictions for a sexual assault in 2001, assaults in 2006 and 2008, mischief under $5,000 and assaulting a peace officer from 2011, being illegally in a dwelling house in 2013 and various other breaches of court conditions.

The court registry also shows several family court matters, although the details of those records are not public.

Police were called to the building for a disturbance at about 12:55 a.m. Sept. 28, according to a news release issued by RCMP spokesperson Const. Elenore Sturko. A "critically injured female and a critically injured male at the residence" where found at the scene, she stated.

How the injuries were inflicted has not been disclosed. It's not yet clear whether a weapon was used.

Police say the suspect turned himself in to RCMP in the early hours of Monday morning.

Family members and friends have been posting online condolences since Sept. 28 about Lafferty.

A representative from Lafferty's family declined to comment when reached that week.

The homicide is the second of the year for the Yellowknife region. The first was Archie Paulette of Ndilo in June.

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