22-year-old mother of 2 identified as victim as B.C. city sets new homicide record
Prince George, B.C., has now recorded 8 homicides — the most in a single year
Family and friends have identified a Prince George homicide victim as Isabelle Thomas, describing her as a loving and outgoing mother of two who "always had a smile on her face."
Thomas was the victim of one of two unrelated and, at the time, suspicious deaths that happened in the B.C. community in mid-July within a 24-hour period — both of which are now being investigated as homicides, helping push the deadly crime rate in the city to the highest on record.
Thomas's family has identified her as the victim in the second death, which police said resulted from a home invasion on July 18.
One man has been arrested, but police have not announced any charges.
Thomas, who was born and raised in Prince George, had six-year-old and six-month-old daughters.
"The girls meant the world to her," said Leslie Thomas, Isabelle's mother. "She did everything in her power to make sure they were happy, that they were taken care of."
Isabelle Thomas was outgoing, loyal and always willing to help a friend out, according to her mother.
She worked as a dietary aid at a senior's home in Prince George and, her mother said, was beloved by elders in the community.
"She really took to everybody."
She had many different interests and loved learning new things. As a member of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation, Isabelle Thomas liked learning about her culture and participated in community activities. She took classes in ribbon skirt making and drum making, her mother said.
She said her daughter was also very outspoken and upfront.
"She told you how it is, and she showed the same amount of love in return."
Thomas said her daughter's children were in the room with her when she died.
"To have both of her babies with her while that thing was happening to her was just unimaginable and so maddening that they had to be put through that," she said.
Thomas said both children are in the care of immediate family now, and the family is fundraising to be able to send the older daughter to a child trauma therapy specialist in Vancouver.
"The babies needed their mother," Thomas said.
Thomas said she has received an outpouring of support from the community as several hundred people came out to a memorial service for her daughter last weekend.
Isabelle Thomas is survived by her two daughters, Addelynn and Eleanore, as well as her siblings, Aleynna Pedersen, Anabelle Pedersen, Jeff Pedersen, Dan Pedersen, Wesley Pedersen, Jasmaine Thomas, and Dakota Thomas, and her parents, Kent Pedersen and Leslie Thomas.
2023 already city's deadliest year
With the death of Isabelle Thomas, the City of Prince George, with a municipal population of just over 76,000, is now recording its deadliest year ever, with eight confirmed homicides since January.
That's more than the previous annual high set in 2010, when the city recorded seven homicides — and was labelled Canada's most dangerous city by Maclean's magazine for the first of three consecutive years, based on the publication's use of data provided by Statistics Canada.
The same year also saw two additional homicides in rural areas outside municipal boundaries.
In a report released Thursday, Statistics Canada found that violent crime in Prince George in 2022 was the highest of any city in B.C., with a population of more than 15,000 people. The agency makes the determination using the Crime Severity Index (CSI), based on police-reported incidents of violent crimes across Canada.
Cpl. Jenn Cooper with the Prince George RCMP said in a statement to CBC News that all of the eight homicides in 2023 appear targeted, and there is no increased risk to the community.
"We are working diligently to identify those responsible for the recent spike in violence and have units throughout the detachment focusing their efforts on these and other supporting investigations," Cooper wrote.
According to police, five of this year's homicides are connected to the drug trade, with Supt. Shaun Wright telling CBC News earlier in the year that there has been competition among different organizations and individuals aiming to control the region.
However, the two victims from the July homicides were not engaged in criminal activity at the time of their deaths, said Cooper.
Police struggling with high caseload: report
In a report commissioned and presented to Prince George council last year, a trio of criminologists found that Prince George RCMP are dealing with more crime than almost any other city in the province, leading to high levels of burnout and an inability to effectively police the community.
In response, council approved funding for four additional officers and two civilian support staff at a cost of more than $1 million.
Provincially, the city has been earmarked as one of 12 communities to pilot a project that will see police, prosecutors and probation officers work together to target violent offenders.
Timeline: A deadly year
Feb. 4: A woman is found dead in her home on 17th Avenue at Fir Street in the city's Millar Addition area between midnight and 1 a.m. Police say the death appears to have been targeted and connected to the city's drug trade.
Feb. 14: A woman is found dead inside a home in the Sunrise Valley Mobile Park between midnight and 1 a.m. One woman is charged with second-degree murder in the death. RCMP say the death appears to be targeted and connected to the city's drug trade.
March 7: RCMP are called to an "altercation" at the Connaught Hill Residences, a highrise apartment block less than 500 metres from city hall, around 9 p.m. A man is found dead, and RCMP later charged a man with manslaughter with a firearm. RCMP link this death to the drug trade, as well.
April 1: A man is found dead in a private residence in the 2200 block of Quince Street just before 8:30 p.m. RCMP say the death is being treated as a homicide connected to the city's drug trade.
April 19: A man identified as James Archibald Webb is found deceased in a rural location approximately 80 kilometres northeast of Prince George. RCMP say Webb's death was a targeted killing with links to the drug trade.
June 19: RCMP are called to a report of a home invasion shortly after 8 p.m. in the 300-block of Nicholson St. South. A man with life-threatening injuries and a woman with "severe but non-life-threatening injuries" are both taken to hospital. The man does not survive, and police treat his death as a homicide.
July 17: A woman is found dead in a residence on the 1500 block of Victoria Street.
July 18: A 22-year-old woman is killed during a home invasion at the Alpine Village townhouse complex on Upland Street. The family identifies her as Isabelle Thomas, a 22-year-old mother of two. One man is arrested.
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