The 2025 Ontario Homicide Victim List is available here

Around 7:35 p.m., emergency crews were called to a home in Belleville’s east end. Paramedics had discovered a 72-year-old woman outside the residence, suffering from severe head trauma. She was rushed to hospital in Kingston with life-threatening injuries.

Belleville Police quickly launched an investigation. Detectives from both the uniform and criminal investigations divisions identified a suspect and a vehicle believed to have fled the scene before emergency responders arrived.

As they dug deeper, police uncovered a second victim, a woman who had reportedly been subjected to ongoing criminal harassment by the same suspect.

That same night, police were called back to the area on an unrelated matter. At the scene, they spotted the suspect inside a vehicle and initiated a high-risk traffic stop.

The suspect appeared to comply, stopping the vehicle momentarily, but then allegedly reversed and rammed a police cruiser, causing significant damage. He was eventually taken into custody.

Inside the vehicle, officers say they found a loaded hunting rifle on the passenger seat.

The officer involved in the crash was taken to hospital as a precaution. The suspect, a 50-year-old man from Tweed, now faces multiple charges.

On July 17th, the Belleville Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Unit learned that Barbara O’Donnell had died from her injuries. As a result, the charges against the male suspect were elevated to first-degree murder.

On July 24th, 50-year-old Jason Richardson from Tweed was arrested and officially charged with first-degree murder under the Criminal Code of Canada.