Charges upgraded in Portlands killing

[attach]6327[/attach]Police have upgraded the charges against one man who was arrested late last year in connection with the murder of Leanne Freeman which took place in the Port Lands.

Jonathan Ash, 23, was arrested and charged on Dec. 15 with accessory after the fact to murder, while Robert Beauregard, also known as Joseph Beauregard, was arrested and charged with first degree murder the next day.

In a news release on Aug. 7, police said that as a result of their ongoing investigation, charges against Ash have now been upgraded to first degree murder.

Freeman, 23, was found shot to death on Unwin Avenue just after 1 a.m. on Nov. 29, after police received a call reporting a car accident. Freeman was pronounced dead in hospital.

Police later found some of her belongings in a garbage bin on Kingston Road in Scarborough.

In a bizarre twist, a Facebook group that had been set up in memory of Freeman previously included one person who went by the name Jon Ash. That person was removed from the group in December when police announced the initial charge against Jonathan Ash.

Other members of the group displayed reactions of both shock and anger.

One person identified Ash as a friend of Freeman, saying he had posted messages both in the group and on his own wall about “how he’d miss her and that this should have never happened.”

Another person said Ash and Freeman had planned to spend Christmas together.

A memorial stone, which was paid for with donations by friends and family of Freeman, was placed at the side of the road near where she was killed. The stone was put in place in early January, and was inscribed, “Death leaves a heartache no one cane heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”