Half of the eight suspects linked to a mysterious homicide investigation into the discovery of a university student’s body in a First Nation between Sarnia and Chatham last year have been granted bail.
Half of the eight suspects linked to a mysterious homicide investigation after the discovery of a university student’s body in a First Nation between Sarnia and Chatham last year have now been granted bail.
After spending one year, one month and five days behind bars, Dejour Millington, 24, was ordered to be released Friday by Superior Court Justice John Desotti in Sarnia on a $50,000 bail plan. The Greater Toronto Area resident will be under strict house arrest with GPS tracking while living with his three sureties at their home in Ajax.
Millington was arrested on Sept. 23, 2021, and charged with the first-degree murder of University of Windsor student Oyebode Oyenuga. Millington is one of six suspects facing first-degree murder charges linked to the March 2021 probe at Walpole Island First Nation while two other suspects face non-homicide charges.
While on bail, Millington can’t have weapons, take illegal drugs or contact a long list of more than 70 people – including his seven co-accused. Millington, who is personally on the hook for $5,000, and the four people who pledged the rest of the money won’t have to pay unless he’s caught breaking those rules.
Three other suspects were granted bail earlier this year on similar terms. The reasons for the quartet being granted bail and any evidence heard at their hearings are covered by court-ordered publication bans.
Jeffrey Drew Bliss, a 36-year-old Chatham-Kent man facing a single charge linked to this investigation of trafficking a firearm, weapon, device or ammunition, was released in early March.
Zy’Shaun Lawrence, 20, from Kitchener, who was charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, as well as committing an indignity to a dead body, was released in early April.
Turuk Thomas, 21, of Kitchener was arrested on March 26 in Sault Ste. Married on unrelated drug charges and transferred to provincial police in Lambton County, where he was wanted on an outstanding warrant, and then charged with first-degree murder. Thomas was released in June.
Little is known about the suspects or the investigation as police haven’t shed light on how the eight people from across Southwestern Ontario and the Toronto area are connected. They also haven’t released any details on how Oyenuga died or if he is connected to any of the suspects.
Oyenuga, a 25-year-old University of Windsor computer science student, died on Feb. 2, 2021. His remains were found about six weeks later in a marshy area of Walpole Island First Nation, approximately 120 kilometers from Windsor.
Millington; Thomas; Nashaye Walker, 21, from North York; Windsor residents Saccara Johnson, 28, and Rolf Agard, 31; and Jahton Dwayne Blair, 40, from Scarborough have all been charged with first-degree murder.
Bliss was the first suspect arrested. His Aug. 5, 2021, arrest amid a long list of gun- and drug-related charges appeared at the time to be a standalone case, but more than two months later provincial police announced they had also charged Bliss In this case. The arrests of the other seven suspects have been announced sporadically, bookended by Thomas in Sault Ste. Marie one year after the investigation started.
A seven-week preliminary inquiry has been set for all eight accused, but not until the fall of 2023 due to the number of lawyers involved. In the meantime, several of the suspects or their lawyers will make brief appearances Monday in Sarnia’s video remand court.