Quebec records 10th femicide of the year amid domestic violence crisis

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) police have identified the two bodies discovered Friday in a home in Mercier on Montreal’s South Shore, saying the deaths resulted from domestic violence as Quebec’s femicide crisis continues.

Officers say the victims were Richard West, 50, and his wife Dyann Serafica-Donaire, 38.

Police say investigators believe West took his own life after killing Serafica-Donaire, whose death marks Quebec’s 10th femicide this year.

SQ spokesperson Valérie Beauchamp said Mercier police were called to a home on Beauchemin Street at around noon on Friday.

READ MORE: SQ invesitigates suspicious deaths of man and woman inside Mercier home

When officers arrived at the home, they discovered the inanimate bodies of a man and a woman. “They were declared dead at the scene,” Beauchamp said.

Isabelle Charest, the minister responsible for the status of women, said “all of Quebec is shaken” to learn of the tragedy, and that the government is working to find solutions to a “worrying crisis.”

Chantal Arseneault, president of Quebec’s Regroupement des maisons pour femmes victimes de violence conjugale, said she is calling for emergency measures and a change in mindset to bring down what she called a “horrifying count.”

Police say the criminal investigation is complete, but a coroner’s inquest could yield more information about the circumstances surrounding the two deaths.

–with files from the Canadian Press and Annabelle Olivier, Global News

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