Woman killed in Thompson homicide identified as mother of 3

A woman who died this week in Thompson in what police are investigating as a homicide has been identified as a mother of three from Bunibonibee Cree Nation, says Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.

The organization that represents northern Manitoba First Nations issued a statement of condolence Friday to the family of Geraldine Miranda Chubb, 33, who had three young sons.

"We send our love and prayers to them and her family during this difficult time," and to Chubb's home community of Bunibonibee, also known as Oxford House, MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee in a news release.

Earlier this week, Thompson RCMP said officers were called to an apartment on Cree Road in the northern Manitoba city around 8 a.m. Wednesday with reports of an unresponsive woman.

They said a 33-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene, but police did not identify her at the time.

A 25-year-old man was arrested at the apartment, and police said they were investigating the death as a homicide.

In Friday's news release, Settee said Indigenous women and girls "are being taken from us at alarming rates and we must put a stop to the violence."

The 2019 final report of the National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found that the violence experienced by Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people in Canada amounts to genocide.

Statistics Canada data released last year found Indigenous people were disproportionately represented in homicides, with a homicide rate almost seven times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous people.

"I am very extremely saddened by the loss of another young sister," Heidi Spence, director of MKO's missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls liaison unit, said in Friday's news release.

She challenged everyone to speak out against all forms of violence.

"The violence needs to end," said Spence.