A Canadian man accused of killing a woman from Dawson Creek, B.C., while both were in Mexico, has been found not guilty by a court in that country.
Mexican police found 23-year-old Kiara Agnew dead in a laundry room at a resort in Playa del Carmen south of Cancun, amid possible signs of violence, on March 3, 2023.
The family says she had travelled to the Riviera Maya shore with her boyfriend to celebrate a birthday.
Family members of the victim and the accused both confirmed the Canadian man’s acquittal. Neither Mexican police nor Canadian authorities have named the now-acquitted man.
The acquitted man’s mother told CBC in a phone interview that her son was flying back from Mexico to Canada on Thursday with his father and sister accompanying him.
“Elated. Absolutely elated,” is how she described her feelings.
CBC News asked Global Affairs if it could confirm the acquittal.
“Global Affairs Canada is aware of a Canadian who was found not guilty of murder in Mexico,” its emailed reply read.
“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.”
CBC attempted to contact the case’s prosecutor in Mexico but did not receive an immediate response.
‘We have lost Kiara all over again,’ sister says
News of Agnew’s death and the arrest of a Canadian national was publicized by a Mexican police force, who posted on social media that they had arrested a foreign national for the suspected crime of femicide.
Family for Agnew identified her as having grown up in the New Brunswick village of Plaster Rock before moving to Dawson Creek when she was a teenager.
The family had been following the trial for the accused from Canada, getting updates from the prosecution.
“We sit here today lost, disappointed and scared that justice hasn’t been served,” Kiara’s mother Michele Agnew told CBC News on Thursday. “It’s been devastating. My whole world has stopped.”
Kiara’s sister said the family still has many questions about how the case was handled.
“We feel as though we have lost Kiara all over again,” Tiana Agnew said.
“This grieving process has been absolutely horrible. The lack of answers has made it even worse. I’m going to try to hold on to how she was in life, but I won’t be able to forget how she was left in death.”
Michele Agnew said she, Tiana and Kiara’s aunt visited the resort where her daughter died as part of her healing process and took comfort from seeing the region.
“The monkeys in the trees, the feral cats running around — she would have loved that,” she said. “It was nice thinking of her in happy times.”