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Regina’s police chief says she understands the concern over how long it took to lay a charge, after a crash last fall killed a woman at a bus stop.
44-year-old Biniam Emaha, who appeared in court Tuesday, was charged with dangerous driving causing death. His next court date is set for Feb. 12.
Read more:
- Regina man charged in connection with fatal collision involving a woman waiting at a bus shelter
- Truck that hit bus shelter killed 19-year-old woman, Regina police say
- Police chiefs in Regina, Saskatoon reflect on 2025
Emaha is accused of running a red light, hitting another vehicle, then crashing into a bus shelter on Dewdney Avenue October 12th, 2025. A 19-year-old woman died.
Chief Lorilee Davies joined the Evan Bray Show on Wednesday and discussed the investigation as well as the final crime statistics for Regina in 2025.
Listen here for the full interview or read the transcript below:
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
EVAN BRAY: Yesterday, we found that there were charges laid. This was such a tragic incident, a 19-year-old female was standing in a bus shelter and was killed by a vehicle when the vehicle went off the road, hit her. Charges were laid yesterday. What can you tell us about what’s happened between the accident and those charges being laid?
LORILEE DAVIES: Absolutely, yeah, just a horrible tragedy. Our investigators, who were out on the scene and have done the follow-up work, have been so diligent about collecting all the evidence, all the information they can. They put together a very substantial package. They sent it to the Crown. The Crown approved the laying of a charge for dangerous driving causing death. And I really have to give kudos to our ICART team, which is our Investigative Collision Analysis Reconstruction Team, the work that they did at the scene and then back in the office, putting everything together to put together that investigative package was nothing short of outstanding. And I know for the family, that will be very meaningful to know that there are criminal charges laid in this case.
What do you say, Chief, to the people that say, why did it take so long? The incident happened, it was a vehicle, went off the road, hit this innocent person. Many people would say this seems cut and dried.
DAVIES: I would think there would be no argument that there could potentially be a Traffic Safety Act charge. But when we’re thinking criminal charges, that threshold for evidence and having enough to put together a criminal case is really a high standard. And so at the scene, they’re taking literally hundreds of measurements, they’re analyzing the roadway, they’re examining the vehicles that were involved, and then mapping that all out when they get back to the office. And so, it really does take a long time to put together all of those pieces of information, to put together a solid case for court.
Yesterday, the Regina Police Service had their annual monthly meeting with the Board of Police Commissioners. I know, Chief Davies, in those meetings, you provide an update on current crime stats. How did we end the year in 2025, what are we looking forward to, or what are challenging us here in ’26?
DAVIES: Absolutely. So, in terms of overall crime stats, 2025 was quite a good year for the Regina Police Service. We ended up, both crimes against the person and crimes against the property, with over a 15 per cent decrease. And I think when we’re thinking those double digits, that is significant and substantial. And so, you know, I’m very proud of that. Unfortunately, we did have 11 homicides last year. And as you know, one in our community is too many. And so that certainly was an issue that is concerning when we have that level of violence. I am pleased to report that we did lay charges in all 11 of those homicides. And so hopefully the fact that we’re holding offenders accountable is some solace to victims’ families. And then the other pressure point, and it has been all throughout 2025, was arsons. They increased at the end of the year, we were up eight per cent, which I would say at the start of the year, we were up double digits, and so we did make some inroads on that, but the majority of those are bin fires. They’re hard for us to catch people in the act. They’re often viewed by many as sort of a victimless crime, but they still are something that can escalate to cause property damage and potentially loss of life.
I want to go back to the homicides for a second. People would want to know what is behind these murders. Often it was domestic issues, drug issues, gangs. Can you speak to, if you reflect on 2025 murders, was it those same kind of overarching elements that were at play on the 2025?
DAVIES: Yeah, exactly. There isn’t one specific thing that we’ve got to focus energy in this direction. It really is all three that you mentioned, domestics, gangs and drug involvement. We have investigative units that work, especially in the gang space and drug space, and they are working very hard to get out of our community the people that we know are most violent. So that work continues.
