Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death

A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.

Alain Caza, 60, appeared at the Valleyfield courthouse Thursday morning and was formally accused of murdering Amanda Caza, a mother of one. He was remanded into custody and is due back in court on May 24.

On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., Quebec provincial police received a 911 call about an altercation between two people at a home on Cairns Street in Ormstown, a small municipality about 60 kilometres southwest of Montreal.

When officers arrived, they found the victim's body with stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The suspect was arrested at the scene and was sent to hospital with minor injuries before he was questioned by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) major crime unit.

'It's difficult to make sense of this tragedy'

Amanda was a mother of a young daughter. In a Mother's Day post on her Facebook account last Sunday, she posted a photo of her child with the message: "She never fails to make me laugh and I'm very lucky as well as proud to be her Mom."

Police vehicles are parked outside of a home in Ormstown, Que., after a woman was found stabbed to death on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Cosmo Santamaria/CTV News)

She graduated from the Chateauguay Valley Regional High School and the Chateauguay Valley Career Education Centre and worked as a part-time secretary at the Hemmingford Elementary School before her death. Her mother, Bonnie Caza, who is deceased, was also a former employee.

"As you can understand, the news of Amanda Caza’s death has come as a shock to our New Frontiers’ community - we are a tight-knit school board," wrote Mike Helm, director general of the New Frontiers School Board, in a statement to CTV News. 

"As Amanda and her Mom were both well-known across our Valley communities, we are providing grief counselling support to our students and staff in various locations."

There was also an outpouring of condolences on social media in the hours after the killing.

"May you rest in peace Amanda Caza .. thank you for your amazing laugh and your positive outlook on life. Our chit chats at the bank and your stories of your beautiful daughter... till we meet again," wrote Julie Lynn Bayliff in a post on Facebook.

Melanie Bergevin expressed how shocked she was by the tragedy. "I can't believe I was looking at my phone at work and I see murder in Ormstown and it was you, poor Amanda Caza," she wrote online.

"Amanda panda, there are no words in this world that can fully convey the immense pain I am feeling right now. You were the person I shared the most laughter with over the years, and that picture we took together still brings a smile to my face," wrote Christine St-Onge on Facebook. "It's difficult to make sense of this tragedy. There’s so many people hurting for the Caza family right now, i wish I had more words."