On Sept. 17, 2025, as a result of the investigation, Alberta RCMP MCU arrested and charged Lee Yanetook Kootenhayoo (26), a resident of Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, with second degree murder. Kootenhayoo was brought before a justice of the peace and remanded into custody. He is to appear before the Alberta Court of justice in Mayerthorpe on Sept. 18, 2025.
On April 6, 2025, Mayerthorpe RCMP responded to a call for service to assist EMS with an unresponsive male, who they later declared deceased. Members attended, spoke to witnesses, who had been driving on the Northeast Road in Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation when they observed the male on a snowbank on the side of the road. The male was identified as 30-year-old Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation resident Daylin Paul.
Alberta RCMP Major Crimes Unit (MCU) took over the investigation and an autopsy was conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Edmonton, who determined that the injuries were consistent with a homicide.
