Woman found dead in Quebec City apartment, after police called for domestic dispute

A 33-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder, after a 55-year-old woman was found dead in an apartment in the Quebec City neighborhood of Limoilou early Tuesday morning. 

Quebec City police received a call for a domestic dispute at around 2 a.m., in an apartment building on Duval Avenue, near the corner of Sapinière-Dorion Street, spokesperson Sandra Dion said. 

At the scene, officers found Nathalie Piché, 55, unresponsive with signs of violence on her body. She was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. 

Police say no one else was in the apartment at the time her body was found. 

Piché is the 13th Quebec woman to be killed this year in suspected cases of intimate partner violence.

Mimouni Noureddine, 33, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with her death. 

He appeared in court via video conference Tuesday afternoon, and will remain detained at least until his bail hearing June 29. 

Noureddine turned himself in just hours after police found the body. He was treated for shock and later interrogated by the major crimes unit. 

Guilbault calls on Quebecers to 'stay alert' 

In a news conference Tuesday, Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault offered her condolences to the woman's family and called on Quebecers to be on the lookout for any signs of intimate partner violence, to prevent more women from being killed.

"I have said it often: We need to stay alert," said Guilbault. "When we see something that doesn't look right to us, where there are doubts, men who seem off — do not hesitate to reach out to the woman and say: 'If you need, you can stay with me, you can talk to me. I can help you.'"