A man has been charged in connection with the killing of a mother and the presumed death of a nine-month-old at a St. Albert, Alta., apartment complex.
Officers found the body of 23-year-old Ayla Egotik-Learn at the Sturgeon Point Villas on Jan. 23, after building representatives found a suspicious item while doing an “eviction-type” check on the unit.
Investigators have reason to believe that her nine-month-old daughter, Braylee, is also dead, “based on the totality of the circumstances,” but her remains have not yet been found.
“We do have some understanding of where Braylee’s remains are located,” said Insp. Wayne Stevenson at a press conference Thursday, adding that they are not currently asking for the public’s assistance in the search.
RCMP believe the killing occurred in early December.
Christopher William Beasley, 33, has been charged with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of indignity to a body. The charges of indignity pertain to both Egotik-Learn and Braylee.
He was arrested at a St. Albert hotel on Tuesday and remanded into custody. Beasley is to appear in court on Feb. 2. RCMP say he was known to police, but would not go into specifics.
Court documents show that Beasley pleaded guilty to assaulting Egotik-Learn in 2025 and was put on 18 months probation. He was also charged with uttering threats and choking her early that year, but those charges were withdrawn.
Police say Beasley and Egotik-Learn were in a common-law relationship, living together, and Braylee was their child.
Egotik-Learn is originally from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and moved to Alberta in 2024. Shortly after moving, she started a relationship with Beasley, said police.
“A woman and her child should be planning for tomorrow, not being mourned today,” said Stevenson. “Her world was her child.”
The cause of death will be determined through an autopsy done by the chief medical examiner.
“With the offences happening in December, it will take some time … especially given the complexity of this case,” said Stevenson.
Kaylee Medvid-Fotty lives four doors down from Egotik-Learn’s unit.
“I did figure something happened, because no one has seen her for over a month,” Medvid-Fotty told CTV News Edmonton outside of the apartment complex.
While she wasn’t close to Egotik-Learn, Medvid-Fotty said she was quiet and usually kept to herself, but was a proud mother to Braylee.
“She was so proud of her baby … she loved her baby so much.”
In a statement, St. Albert Mayor Scott Olivieri gave his condolences to the friends and family of Egotik-Learn and her daughter.
“To have this devastating loss of two people take place in St. Albert is almost unthinkable,” said Olivieri Thursday. “Words cannot fully express our collective sense of shock, dismay and sorrow.”
The last homicide in the community was in 2024.
St. Albert is located just north of Edmonton and has a population of about 68,000.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg
