Update: further charges laid – Male arrested after serious assault on Daly Street

Update (Wednesday, Mar. 23, 2022)
Kingston Police have provided a further list of charges laid against the suspect in a now-deadly violent attack earlier this month after the victim has passed away.

Following the death of the victim as the result of her injuries sustained during the attack, Kingston Police have updated and added additional charges against James Michael Earley, the suspect arrested in connection with the vicious assault on Saturday, Mar. 5, 2022.

Earley, 47, of Kingston, is now charged with:

• First degree murder
• Aggravated assault
• Break and enter at a residence
• Break and enter at a non-residence
• Failure to comply with a Judicial Release Order
• Possession of a weapon for committing an offence

Earley has been remanded into custody pending a bail hearing, Kingston Police said in a press release on Wednesday, Mar. 23, 2022. Police have now also identified the victim as 88-year-old Kingston resident Matilda O’ray. According to Kingston Police, the victim and the accused were not known to each other.

Original article (Sunday, Mar. 6, 2022):

Kingston Police and Frontenac Paramedics responded to a call just after 7:00 p.m. on the evening of Saturday, Mar. 5, 2022 involving a serious assault which took place in the area of Daly Street, just south of Weller Avenue.

According to Kingston Police, officers from both the Patrol Division as well as the Emergency Response Unit attended the area, locating a female in her home who had apparently been the victim of a vicious assault. 

As Kingston Police officers investigated the incident, they cordoned off several blocks around the area, including Weller Avenue, Daly Street, and Drennan Street.

Kingston Police canvassed the area, searching for the suspect and speaking to eyewitnesses, eventually leading them to a community church on Weller Avenue, which eyewitnesses said the suspect had entered after fleeing the original scene. Kingston Police Emergency Response Team members entered the church and one male, now identified as 47-year-old James Michael Earley, was subsequently arrested and transported to police headquarters. The female victim, who was found with serious and potentially life-threatening injuries, was treated by Frontenac Paramedics and transported to Kingston General Hospital.

While the incident happened at the same time as Kingston Police were already responding to another incident on Mowat Avenue in the city’s midtown, in which a male had barricaded himself inside a unit in an apartment building, the two events are unrelated.

The subsequent criminal investigation, undertaken by the Major Crime Unit and Forensic Identification Section, has led to Earley being charged with:

• Attempted Murder
• Break & Enter (x2)
• Possession of Weapons Dangerous
• Fail to Comply with Judicial Release Order

Officers remained on scene for several hours after the incident, interviewing potential witnesses and collecting evidence. Kingston Police say that the Daly Street suspect likely had interactions with other members of the public in the area, and Kingston Police are asking those individuals to come forward. Anyone with information pertaining to the incident or the male suspect is encouraged to contact Constable Amanda Smith at 613-549-4660 ext. 6292 or via email at [email protected]. You can also provide tips anonymously by calling the Kingston Police general number 613-549-4660 ext. 0 and asking to remain anonymous.