A woman who was recently assaulted at a New West residence has since died as a result of her injuries.
Members of the New Westminster Police Department attended a home on Princess Street about 1 p.m. on March 2, after receiving a report of a serious assault. The NWPD announced March 11 that the female victim has since died as a result of her injuries and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has taken over the investigation.
On the afternoon of the incident, police arrested a suspect. Andywele Mullings, a 42-year-old New Westminster resident, was subsequently charged with one count of aggravated assault and one count of assault with weapon.
“Since the victim has now passed away, we will be considering charges reflective of that,” said IHIT spokesperson Sgt. Frank Jang. “At this point, the other charges haven’t been formally laid yet.”
Jang said IHIT will be having a conversation with Crown counsel about manslaughter or second degree murder charges, but those haven’t been laid at this time.
“Those are the charges we will be looking into,” he told the Record Thursday afternoon. “He hasn’t been charged with any other offences other than those laid by the New Westminster police. But this is probably an hour-by-hour change. If you ask me in the next hour, that might change. Obviously if there are any new charges we will let everyone know that.”
Following the incident, the house on Princess Street was behind yellow caution tape while police investigated the assault. Students at a nearby school were temporarily sheltering in place as a precaution while NWPD officers secured the scene.
“We feel it’s isolated. It’s between people who are known to one another,” Jang said. “It doesn’t take away from the tragedy of the situation.”
In the March 11 press release, the New Westminster Police Department stated its Victim Assistance Unit has been in contact with the family from the outset of this investigation and continues to provide support.
“We have taken conduct. Most of the heavy lifting has been done by the New Westminster police,” Jang said. “Obviously, because of her dying, we are going to look into bumping up those charges. A lot of the groundwork was done by New West police.”
Following the incident, NWPD spokesperson Sgt. Sanjay Kumar told the Record the Victim Services Unit attended the scene and provided support for the residents in the home.
“There were residents in the home at the time of the assault,” he said.
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