Facebook removes video linked to death

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This article was published 26/04/2017 (2555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Facebook has removed a video and a screen grab of a conversation linked to a beating death in Sagkeeng and pledged to co-operate with police in the homicide investigation.

The badly beaten body of Serena McKay, 19, was found Sunday evening outside a home on the Ojibway First Nation, 145 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

RCMP have charged two teenage girls, aged 16 and 17, with second-degree murder but have yet to confirm the video is a depiction of the fatal beating.

Facebook’s statement, the first since the slaying, came Thursday, as Sagkeeng prepared for an evening vigil to pay tribute to the homicide victim and to help ease the shock that’s left the small community shaken.

Facebook released a statement Thursday expressing dismay the video was posted on the social-media platform.

“This is was a horrific tragedy and our hearts go out to the family and friends of Ms. McKay,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a two-sentence email.

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The email was forwarded by Canada’s Facebook publicist.

“We are working with law enforcement as they investigate,” the email concluded.

The woman who called police and led them to McKay’s body Sunday evening reported a loud party there Saturday night and noted the house has a history of hosting noisy parties. She expressed shock at the brutality of the attack and guilt she hadn’t called authorities earlier.

Hundreds of social-media posts condemned the video and called for it, and the screen grab, to be removed.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca