A Red Deer teen accused of shooting a man to death outside a local Walmart made his first court appearance on Monday morning.
Chase Freed, 18, appeared through a closed-circuit video link from the Edmonton Remand Centre. Dressed in orange prison coveralls, Freed listened as six charges, including second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, were read to him by a court clerk.
Freed has also been charged with flight from police, dangerous driving and theft of a motor vehicle.
Freed is trying to get a lawyer appointed through Legal Aid. He remains in custody and is due back in court on Feb. 18.
C.J. “Jim” Williams, 69, was shot and killed outside Red Deer’s south Walmart at about 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 20.
Police said Williams and his wife, Roxine, had just left the store, busy with Christmas shoppers, when he was confronted in the parking lot by a masked man armed with a sawed-off semi-automatic rifle.
Funeral held for man shot outside Walmart
Walmart shooter fired at others as he fled
Roxine said she heard two “pops” and saw her husband chase after the suspect as he ran away.
Williams was shot and fatally wounded. Bystanders and RCMP performed CPR on Williams until an ambulance arrived to take him to Red Deer’s hospital, where he died soon after.
The alleged shooter jumped into a waiting SUV with a woman at the wheel. As they fled, police allege Freed fired shots at two other bystanders, but missed both.
Mounties were searching for the two suspects when Rimbey RCMP got a report of a stolen pickup.
Police tracked down the two suspects, who were now in separate trucks, and stopped them near Highway 11A, close to Sylvan Lake.
Crystal Maurice, 30, was arrested in the vehicle and Freed was arrested after a short foot chase. Both were in custody by 10:30 p.m.
Maurice is expected to appear in Red Deer court on Wednesday. She has been charged with accessory after the fact to murder and vehicle theft.