South Okanagan woman charged with attempted murder

A 28-year-old Oliver woman has been charged with attempted murder.

Denise Ibeth Lalonde Velazquez failed to turn up to court Wednesday in Penticton having been charged with the attempted murder of Keisha Dainard.

Court documents show that Lalonde Velazquez was also charged with breaking into a property on McKinney Road outside Oliver and aggravated assault, along with attempted murder.

The alleged attack is said to have happened on Sept. 2.

READ MORE: BC man allegedly confessed to two killings originally ruled as accidents

A couple of days before the alleged violence, Lalonde Velazquez allegedly threatened Dainard, and she is also facing a charge of uttering a threat to cause death or bodily harm.

It's not yet known what took place, but it appears the two women knew each other.

Lalonde Velazquez is the mother to a young child and — according to an online fundraiser from 2019 that raised more than $5,000 — lost her partner in a car crash while she was pregnant.

The 28-year-old is not in custody and was supposed to be appear in Penticton courtroom Nov. 20. Crown prosecutors will make an application for an arrest warrant next week.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community? Create a free account to comment on stories, ask questions, and join meaningful discussions on our new site.

Leave a Reply

Ben Bulmer

After a decade of globetrotting, U.K. native Ben Bulmer ended up settling in Canada in 2009. Calling Vancouver home he headed back to school and studied journalism at Langara College. From there he headed to Ottawa before winding up in a small anglophone village in Quebec, where he worked for three years at a feisty English language newspaper. Ben is always on the hunt for a good story, an interesting tale and to dig up what really matters to the community.