B.C. man sentenced to life in prison for killing ex-partner, says IHIT

BURNABY — A British Columbia man convicted of killing his girlfriend has been sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole for 12 years.

Everton Downey, who is now 35 years old, was found guilty of second-degree murder last August in the death of 25-year-old Melissa Blimkie from North Vancouver, B.C.

Mounties in Burnaby, B.C., were called on Dec. 19, 2021, to Metrotown Mall, where officers found Blimkie with stab wounds, and she later died of her injuries in hospital.

Officers with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team collected evidence for several weeks, and Downey was charged with second-degree murder in January 2022.

Police say Downey and Blimkie were in a relationship for “some time” before the murder, and Downey was sentenced on Friday in B.C. Supreme Court.

Cpl. Esther Tupper with the homicide team says Blimkie’s murder was a “tragic instance of intimate partner violence” that devastated the woman’s family and community.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.

The Canadian Press