Police have charged a man with murder after his 59-year-old mother was found dead in her Langford home during a wellness check on New Year’s Eve.
West Shore RCMP officers were called to the home on Selwyn Road for a welfare check shortly after noon on New Year’s Eve.
Once inside, they discovered the body of Raymonde Elder, and her son, who had been living with her, was taken into custody without incident.
Ryan Elder, 27, faces one count of second-degree murder and remains in custody, West Shore RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.
He will appear in Western Communities Provincial Court Tuesday, Jan. 20.
In the 1960s, Raymonde, her four siblings and their parents left Scotland for Vancouver Island. Except for a sister in Vancouver, they all stayed on the island.
Raymonde’s brother, Alex McEwen, said his nephew struggled with mental illness, creating a strain on his relationship with his mother.
“Recently it was very volatile, very volatile, always arguing and shouting each other. I mean, even when he was younger, he loved her. Probably still loves her. And she loved him. She would do anything for him,” he said.
Neighbour Kevin Lee told CHEK News on Saturday that he had recently heard fighting from inside the Langford home.
“Yeah they used to fight. Yeah they would have arguments. You could hear the arguments from over here but I never knew what they were arguing about.”
McEwen says the family called the police many times for help as Ryan’s mental health deteriorated.
“He should have been in the hospital a long time ago. But you know, the police never did their job. RCMP never did their job. The Mental Health Act certainly didn’t do their job. They did never provide enough.”
With Raymonde’s 60th birthday in March, McEwen says all the siblings were planning a party for their sister.
“Sometimes I want to wake up, and it’s a bad dream,” he said.
The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit has taken over the investigation.
“This is believed to have been an isolated incident and investigators do not believe that there is an ongoing risk to the public as both individuals knew each other,” Sgt. Chris Manseau, media relations officer for the BC RCMP, said Jan. 1.
Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit information line at 250-380-6211.
