SPVM: Gabriel Lavoie, 22, Arrested in Playa del Carmen on a Murder Warrant, Third Arrest in the March 2025 Killing of a 34-Year-Old Man in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (October 2, 2026)
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal says Gabriel Lavoie, 22, has been arrested at Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on an arrest warrant for murder in the killing of a 34-year-old man in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve on March 14, 2025. He is the third person arrested on the file. The force’s communiqué does not say on what date he was arrested, does not state the degree of murder the warrant alleges, and does not cite a Criminal Code section. The force says he has been placed in custody pending extradition proceedings (« placé sous garde en attente des procédures d’extradition ») but gives no timetable. Neither SPVM notice names the victim.
What the Force Published
The communiqué, dated Friday, October 2, 2026 and headed Cinquième meurtre de 2025 : un suspect arrêté au Mexique, says investigators of the Section des crimes majeurs arrested Lavoie at Playa del Carmen in Mexico. It attributes the arrest to work with Mexican authorities, the Gendarmerie royale du Canada and Interpol. Commander Mélanie Dupont, head of the Section des crimes majeurs, is the only person the force quotes, and she credits the collaboration between those partners for making the arrest of the third suspect possible.
The killing itself the force dates to March 14, 2025, shortly after midnight, near the intersection of rue Ontario and rue Saint-Germain in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Noovo Info’s March 21, 2025 report placed the attack near rues de Rouen and Dézéry; both SPVM notices give Ontario and Saint-Germain. An earlier SPVM notice on the same file records that the victim, a man of 34, was wounded in the lower body by a sharp object and died in hospital. Noovo Info, reporting the arrest on October 2, says he was attacked by a group. The force counts the death as the fifth murder of 2025 on the island of Montréal.
The Two Men Arrested Before Him
The October 2 communiqué names two men already before the courts on the file: Dave Lambert-Chouinard and Valdano Saint-Hillien, both arrested in Montréal, who it says appear at the Montréal courthouse on charges of manslaughter (« accusations d’homicide involontaire »). Noovo Info reported on March 21, 2025 that Lambert Chouinard had been charged with second-degree murder (« meurtre au second degré »), and Saint-Hillien with manslaughter and assault on a third party (« homicide involontaire » and « voies de fait contre une tierce personne »); the SPVM release does not explain the difference. The release does not itemise a count against either man, does not give either man’s age or municipality, and does not say what stage either case has reached beyond the charge.
The earlier SPVM notice on the killing, which did not name anybody, recorded that two suspects aged 20 and 21 had been arrested and had appeared at the Montréal courthouse. It specified no charge. Nothing published by the force reconciles those two ages with the two names, and this briefing does not assign either age to either man.
What the record does not contain
- The arrest date: the communiqué gives none. Noovo Info says the arrest was made on the Thursday, which was October 1, 2026, the day before both the release and the report.
- The degree of murder: the warrant is described as one for murder and no degree and no Criminal Code section appears.
- Any return to Quebec: the force says Lavoie has been placed in custody pending extradition proceedings, but publishes no timetable and no court date.
- The victim: unnamed in both SPVM notices, and no cause of death is stated beyond a wound to the lower body from a sharp object.
- How he was found: the communiqué does not say how or when Lavoie was located in Mexico, how long he had been there, or when the warrant was issued.
- The attack: no number of attackers in the force’s own account, no weapon recovered, no motive, and no civic address for the building.
- Administrative detail: no file or occurrence number, no court date for Lavoie, and no named investigator other than the section head quoted.
- Any organization: the force names no criminal organization, street gang or outlaw motorcycle club anywhere on this file, and neither does Noovo Info.
Timeline
- March 14, 2025 — shortly after midnightA 34-year-old man is wounded in the lower body by a sharp object near rue Ontario and rue Saint-Germain, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. He dies in hospital. The SPVM counts it as the fifth murder of 2025 on the island of Montréal.
- Shortly after the killing — reported March 21, 2025Two suspects, aged 20 and 21 and unnamed by the SPVM at the time, are arrested and appear at the Montréal courthouse, according to an earlier SPVM notice. The SPVM’s Oct. 2, 2026 release says they were arrested « peu après le meurtre »; Noovo Info reported the arrests on March 21, 2025.
- Thursday, October 1, 2026Noovo Info reports the arrest was made this day at Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The SPVM communiqué publishes no arrest date.
- Friday, October 2, 2026The SPVM publishes the communiqué naming Gabriel Lavoie, 22, and naming Dave Lambert-Chouinard and Valdano Saint-Hillien as the two men arrested earlier.
- Friday, October 2, 2026 — 2:46 p.m. EasternNoovo Info and CTV News Montreal both carry the arrest. The CTV News Montreal article page returns only its headline and metadata to a plain reader.
Carries the investigation; made the arrest announcement and supplied the only quotation.
Named by the SPVM as a partner in the arrest at Playa del Carmen; no agency is identified by name.
Named by the SPVM as a partner; no unit is identified and no RCMP release on the file was located.
Named by the SPVM as a partner; the communiqué does not say whether a notice was issued for Lavoie.
Sources
- Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, “Cinquième meurtre de 2025 : un suspect arrêté au Mexique,” October 2, 2026 — established the name and age of the accused, the place of arrest, the murder warrant, his custody pending extradition proceedings, the two co-accused and their charges, and the partner agencies — spvm.qc.ca
- Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, earlier notice on the same killing — established the date and time of the attack, the intersection, the victim’s age and injury, and that two suspects aged 20 and 21 had been arrested and had appeared in court — spvm.qc.ca
- Noovo Info, “Deux jeunes hommes arrêtés pour le meurtre d’un homme de 34 ans à Montréal,” March 21, 2025 at 9:27 a.m. — reported the charges against Lambert Chouinard and Saint-Hillien at the time of their arrest and placed the attack near rues de Rouen and Dézéry — noovo.info
- Noovo Info, “Recherché depuis plus d’un an pour un meurtre à Montréal: un jeune homme arrêté au Mexique,” October 2, 2026 at 2:46 p.m., updated 3:25 p.m. — established that the arrest was made on the Thursday and that the victim was attacked by a group — noovo.info
- Daniel J. Rowe, CTV News Montreal, “Murder suspect arrested in Mexico in 2025 Montreal killing,” October 2, 2026 at 2:46 p.m. Eastern — headline and metadata only; the article body does not render to a plain reader and nothing in this briefing rests on it — ctvnews.ca
Gabriel Lavoie has not been convicted of anything and is presumed innocent; the warrant is an allegation by the Crown and the police, and no charge against him has been tested in court. Dave Lambert-Chouinard and Valdano Saint-Hillien are likewise presumed innocent and the charges the force attributes to them have not been tested. No criminal organization, street gang, crime family, syndicate, cartel or outlaw motorcycle club has been named by the SPVM or by Noovo Info on this file, and none is named here. Montréal sits inside the primary footprint of this beat and a homicide there is on it regardless of any stated organized-crime connection, so no further beat qualifier arises. Neither SPVM notice mentions a publication ban. Where the record is silent — on the arrest date, the degree of murder and the extradition timetable — that silence is reported above rather than filled.