Thunder Bay at 10 homicides in 2026, with one unresolved July death excluded from the tally

THUNDER BAY — NEWS – Thunder Bay appears to have recorded 10 homicides in 2026 after police disclosed that a 42-year-old woman who died in June was the victim of a homicide.

The figure is a NetNewsLedger newsroom count based on public police statements, not a newly released annual total from Thunder Bay Police Service or the Office of the Chief Coroner.

Police said Friday that Aylin Kahgee-Martin, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of the woman, who was found critically injured at a Lanark Crescent home shortly before 12:45 a.m. on June 22.

The woman was taken to hospital and pronounced dead. Police have not publicly identified her, described her injuries or disclosed the relationship between the accused and the deceased.

Kahgee-Martin was remanded after a court appearance. The charge is an allegation and she is presumed innocent.

How the count reaches 10

Thunder Bay police confirmed in August that the city had recorded eight homicides to that point in 2026. Deputy Chief Jeremy Pearson said at the time that the cases involved people who knew one another or interactions that deteriorated, rather than a linked series of random killings.

A ninth death was added after a woman injured in an alleged assault near a Dawson Road business on Aug. 15 died in hospital two days later. Police charged two people with manslaughter. Those allegations have not been proven.

The newly classified Lanark Crescent death brings the newsroom count to 10 because the death occurred in June 2026, even though police did not publicly call it a homicide until charges were laid in November.

The count is based on victims and the year of death, not the number of accused people or the date a charge was laid.

What is not included

The count does not include a July 18 death in the Cumming Street area. Two second-degree murder charges in that case were withdrawn, and police said the deceased person’s cause-of-death classification could be amended pending further pathology results.

It also excludes a Regent Street death from Dec. 25, 2025. A murder charge was laid in 2026, but the death belongs to the previous calendar year.

Homicide is a broader category than murder. It can include murder, manslaughter and other forms of culpable homicide. A charge is not the same as a finding of guilt, and a homicide classification does not by itself establish who is criminally responsible.