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ST. ALBERT — A man has been charged with murder after the remains of his common-law partner were found in an Edmonton-area apartment, and RCMP say their baby is also believed to be dead.
Mounties say they were called to the apartment in St. Albert on Friday, after a building employee was doing an “eviction-type check” and found a suspicious item.
Insp. Wayne Stevenson told a press conference Thursday that officers then located the remains of a woman, believed to be 23-year-old Ayla Egotik-Learn of Cambridge Bay, Nvt.
Officers also discovered that her nine-month-old daughter, Braylee Beasley, was missing.
“This significantly increased the urgency” of the case, said Stevenson.
He added that investigators later found reason to believe the child is dead.
Stevenson said officers have some understanding of where the child’s body might be and are continuing to search for her.
“A woman and her child should be planning for tomorrow, not being mourned today,” he said.
Christopher William Beasley, 33, was arrested Tuesday at a St. Albert hotel.
He is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Egotik-Learn and causing an indignity to the bodies of both the mother and child.
Beasley and Egotick-Learn were in a common-law relationship, and he was also the father of the baby, said Sgt. James McConnell.
Court records show police believe Egotik-Learn was killed on or about Dec. 5 and that the remains of the woman and her baby were interfered with on the same day.
The records also show Beasley had been on probation for assaulting Egotik-Learn.
He pleaded guilty in July and was given a suspended sentence and 18 months probation. Other charges of assault and threats against the woman were withdrawn.
Beasley is scheduled to appear on the new charges in St. Albert court on Feb. 2.
St. Albert Mayor Scott Olivieri expressed shock and sorrow over the deaths.
“The deaths of these two people has devastated a family and challenged a community, but it must also serve to strengthen our resolve to support one another in our grief and do everything in our power to prevent such tragedies in the future,” he said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 29, 2026.
— By Lisa Johnson in Edmonton
The Canadian Press
