The man who stabbed a mother and her two daughters on Monday night is the son of a family neighbor, had a romantic interest in one of the victims and just days ago was accused of harassing and sexually assaulting another woman, CBC News has learned.
Joshua Graves, 21, was shot and killed by police after three police officers shot at him when he allegedly refused to let go of the knife he used in the attack.
The stabbing came just three days after Graves appeared in court for his first crimes. He was arrested on Thursday, then charged and released on Friday.
Ottawa police have identified the victims as 50-year-old Anne-Marie Reedy, who worked as a sales commissioner for Global Affairs, and her 15-year-old daughter, Jasmine Reedy, who she said recently graduated from the French Catholic High School Franco-Cité.
Catherine Reedy, the family’s 19-year-old eldest daughter, survived both the stabbing and the police fire. She had graduated last year, according to the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Center-Est.
Graves’ relatives told the CBC that he had previously shown a romantic interest in one of the daughters and was told to stop contacting her.
Three police officers fired after he refused to throw a knife
Police showed up at 1273 Anoka Street around 10:30 p.m. Monday after calling 911 from the house, where screams were heard.
Patrol officers arrived to find Graves in the act of stabbing Catherine Reddy on the street just outside. They ordered him to drop the knife, according to preliminary information released by the Ontario Police Department, the Special Investigations Department (SIU).
When Graves disobeyed these orders, three different patrol officers fired on him.
Graves was pronounced dead at the scene. Catherine Reedy was taken to hospital with multiple stab wounds and gunshot wounds.
Police found the bodies of her mother and sister nearby.
A police officer used a camera Tuesday at the site of a triple murder south of Ottawa’s core last night. (Francis Ferland / CBC)
Neighbors described the family, especially the sisters, as friendly people on the street, who often saw their dog walking or mowing the lawn.
By Wednesday afternoon, the police line that had covered the scene was torn and a special cleaning team was waiting to enter the Ready family home.
Right next door to Greg Graves’ home, a woman left trays of food and drink at the front door.
“He was my boy”
Greg Graves, like many other Anoka Street residents late Monday night, watched as police responded to what he did not realize his own son was raping violently.
He heard the sirens, the police commands to release the knife, the shots.
“He was my boy,” he told CBC News by phone on Wednesday.
In a statement he prepared for the Ready family, Greg Graves wrote that “Words cannot express how devastated, confused and sad I am about the loss of your mother and daughter.
“I believe I know the demons my son was fighting, which led to the terrible actions. This is a tragedy for all of us and we will have to understand and reconcile in the coming days. “
Greg Graves said he had deep pain in his heart and deep respect for all the loss of life. “Let us find peace and forgiveness,” he said in a statement.
Accused last week of first offenses
According to court records, Joshua Graves was charged on June 24 with three counts of criminal harassment, assault and sexual assault for allegedly harassing another woman he went to school with from March to June this year.
The untested allegations include that he repeatedly followed the woman, tried to communicate with her and tried to kiss her.
Graves was released the same day he was indicted, with the Crown’s consent.
According to a copy of his release order, his mother, Emily Graves, acted as his guarantor, and Joshua Graves was ordered to live with her in a home other than his father’s house on Anoka Street.
History of mental illness
In a statement, his mother told CBC News that she believed her typically nonviolent son – who had a history of mental illness and was receiving medical treatment – had broken with reality.
“What Joshua did was not a reflection of the quiet boy struggling with a mental illness who was still trying to find himself in this world,” the statement said.
According to his family, his mental health problems were not diagnosed until August 2021, when he was diagnosed with a severe depressive disorder.
His family believes the arrest last week was the catalyst for what happened.
“This was the chain of events that led to Joshua’s mental disorder. He must have thought that these accusations would be the end of his life and freedom,” the family said in a statement.
His family does not want to justify his actions, they added, but they hope to explain them.
Joshua Graves had previously shown a romantic interest in one of Ready’s daughters, his family said, but he was told to stop contacting her.
The 21-year-old also had to refrain from contact with the woman he allegedly persecuted and other witnesses in the case, both in person and on social media, according to court records. He was ordered to hand over all digital and device passwords to his mother and was forbidden to possess any weapons.
Both the SIU and Ottawa police continue to investigate.
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