A man from Manitoba was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his partner and 3 children.
Nancy Clearwater announced that the 30-year-old woman who was killed is her daughter Amanda Clearwater. The children who were killed are her grandchildren.

According to a police statement, the victims are: "Bethany, aged six, Jevin, aged four, and Isabella Manoukesik, aged two months."

Clearwater also identified the 17-year-old girl who was killed as her niece Mia Gratton.

A man from Manitoba was charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his 30-year-old partner, their three young children, and his partner's relative, whose bodies were found in southern Manitoba on Sunday.

Ryan Howard Manoukesik, 29, from Carman, Manitoba, was identified by the RCMP as the man charged in the deaths at a press conference on Monday afternoon. Among the deceased were his six-year-old daughter, his four-year-old son, his two-and-a-half-month-old daughter, and a 17-year-old relative of his common-law partner, the inspector.

All five victims and the accused lived together in the Carman community, 75 kilometers southwest of Winnipeg. Arseneault said autopsies began on Monday and will continue on Tuesday.

Nancy Clearwater identified the 30-year-old woman who was killed as her daughter Amanda Clearwater.

The children who were killed are her grandchildren, Bethany, aged six, Jevin, aged four, and Isabella Manoukesik, aged two and a half months. Clearwater identified the 17-year-old girl who was killed as her niece Mia Gratton.

Clearwater said, "I am stunned. I don't know what I feel." "She loved those children. She loved those children more than anything else in the world, "She was a very good mother."

The victims' bodies were found at three separate sites in southern Manitoba on Sunday.

A woman was found first after officers responded to a report of a hit-and-run on Highway 3 between Carman and Winkler, Manitoba, at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. That woman, whose body was found in a ditch off the highway, was identified on Monday as Manoukesik's common-law partner.

About two and a half hours later, and 70 kilometers north of Carman, officers went to check a report of a burned car and found the three children, who were pronounced dead, and Manoukesik, who was taken into custody.

While initial police reports said a witness helped pull the three young children from a burning car on Sunday, the Mounties now say the information was inaccurate. Police now believe the accused removed his children from the car.

After further investigations, officers were led to a house in Carman, where they found the body of the 17-year-old girl inside. Arseneault said the officers were no longer at the highway crime scene but remained at the house in Carman.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew expressed regret over the family's loss at the press conference. He said, "There is no context, no explanation that can make this acceptable. This is pure darkness."

He added: "But I want to tell the people of Manitoba that we are not helpless in the face of darkness. We can move and work together to protect the vulnerable. We can offer comfort. We can offer support. We can find support in faith.