TWO YEARS LATER, THE SEARCH FOR JESSE DESCHAMPS’ KILLER CONTINUES
One Individual Charged
By OPP, Aug. 27, 2025
(PENETANGUISHENE, ON) – Members of the Southern Georgian Bay Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have charged one individual with first degree murder in connection with a homicide investigation in the Town of Penetanguishene.
On Thursday, July 27, 2023, an investigation began after 30-year-old Jesse DESCHAMPS was shot and killed in the rear parking lot of a shopping centre on Poyntz Street in Penetanguishene.
On Monday, August 25, 2025, Danika LAWRIE, 32 years old of Penetanguishene, was arrested and charged with the following Criminal Code offences:
- First degree murder, section 235(1)
- Mischief over $5,000, section 430(3)
- Obstruct peace officer, section 129(a)
The accused remains in custody pending a bail hearing, and is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Barrie on a later date.
The OPP Southern Georgian Bay Crime Unit is continuing the investigation, under the direction of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service.
The OPP would like to thank community members for their ongoing assistance in this investigation.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or crimestopperssdm.com.
Midland gets failing grade for accessibility on several fronts
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Sep 04, 2025
For those with mobility issues, accessibility in Midland needs vast improvements as many are denied access to local services and businesses due to poor layouts and designs.
That was one of the key takeaways after listening to Steven Laurin talk with Midland council Wednesday evening.
Laurin, the Midland representative for the Simcoe County joint accessibility advisory committee, explained to council that his role was to oversee plans and designs for new parks and public access buildings. He cited Community Outreach in Orillia as a model design for Midland to aspire toward.
“Knowing I was coming here, I asked residents in the Midland area: ‘What are the three biggest concerns they have for accessibility?’ And I got thousands of replies,” said Laurin.
Three areas of concern were shared by Laurin. He noted the 2021 King Street rejuvenation project, also known as the ‘Big Dig’, and asked council why consideration wasn’t given to the addition of sloped entrances along front-facing businesses.
“A lot of us with accessibility needs cannot access most of the buildings from the King Street entrance; we are required to go and use the alleyway to access these areas,” said Laurin. “It’s very difficult, and I know a lot of people who refuse to outright shop downtown because they won’t go down the alleyways for safety reasons.”
Laurin also pointed out the sloped access into the outpatient doors for Georgian Bay General Hospital, and the difficulty for a wheelchair user to reach that access; a difficulty which was amplified when winter weather compounded the problem.
Third, Laurin pointed out a “severe lack of housing for people with accessible needs”, suggesting that the challenge was within the system itself.
“Most accessible units are being reserved for low-income or geared-to-income housing only,” said Laurin. “They refuse to change those units that have wheelchair accessibility to the ones that are paying full market – they refuse and want to keep them as the geared-to-income.
“I know, because I’ve been on a waiting list for 10 years now. My accident happened in 2015, and within a month I started applying to places knowing that I’d be confined in this chair for the rest of my life. I’m still on that waiting list 10 years later in Midland,” Laurin added.
When stating that there were roughly 100 wheelchair users within Midland, several members of council seemed surprised. He provided Wal-mart on Highway 12 as an example where residents with accessibility needs could shop, in contrast to the downtown core.
Laurin also thanked staff for installing an accessible porta-potty at Midland Bay Landing which he claimed had become the most used facility of its kind for that reason; other suggestions around town included accessible park benches, better lighting and tactile surfaces, and overhangs for inclement weather.
“It may seem like such a tiny little thing to so many, but to somebody like me it means the world,” said Laurin. “It opens back up the ability to go out into public and be part of the community.”
Council members thanked Laurin for showcasing a perspective on the community which they had not considered; Laurin included himself in having occasional lapses for understanding the accessibility needs of others.
Laurin also challenged council to sit in his wheelchair and go through a day in Midland, with Mayor Bill Gordon accepting Laurin’s proposal.
Speaking with MidlandToday following the meeting, Gordon clarified one of Laurin’s points, being that building owners in downtown Midland were approached to modify entranceways during the Big Dig but had declined at that time.
“It’s valid criticism, and as urban planners and as approval bodies like we are for land use planning, we need to start thinking about accessibility more and challenge developers, even though we can’t compel them,”said Gordon.
Gordon further mused that although council couldn’t push developers for more accessibility: “Maybe, why don’t we ask? All we can do is ask. We can say it’s not a condition of approval, but we’re just curious because there’s a genuine need.
“What Steve’s doing, and probably the whole committee if they were here, is challenging us to be more cognizant of different disabilities and accessibility challenges,” said Gordon. “And we talk the talk every time we celebrate (Midland-born former lieutenant-governor) David Onley and our commitment to accessibility.”
Gordon also gave a promotional nudge during the meeting to StopGap, a Toronto-based charitable accessibility foundation which provides custom designed mobile ramps.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.
‘We are not the problem’: Guesthouse CEO defends facility amid council criticism
By: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Source: MidlandToday.ca, Sep 05, 2025
Facing a heated council wanting answers for the downtown homelessness issue, Guesthouse Shelter CEO Rosemary Sykes requested compassion from residents while providing reasoning that the facility wasn’t the root cause of town problems.
Backed by many supporters in attendance at the recent committee of the whole meeting, Sykes gave an update on the status of the Guesthouse, addressed specific concerns pointed at their services, fielded barbed questions toward management of the facility and offered suggestions on what could be done to remedy the situation.
“We are well aware of the negative impressions some community members have about us,” said Sykes. “We are not the problem; we are a small piece of the solution. Our guests have a 10:30 p.m. curfew; they are not responsible for the overnight illegal activity that takes place in the downtown core.”
Sykes explained that of the 21 available beds housed within the year-round emergency shelter at 522 Elizabeth St., a waiting list exists as the beds are filled every night. Guests are subjected to a belongings check to be put into a staff-controlled locker, provided three meals and a bed and given access to on-site support services.
“Some of our guests have been community college students, with work placements at two of our long-term care homes – having no homes to call their own. They are working towards a diploma that will qualify them to be fully employed in our community and much needed professions and positions,” said Sykes. “Some of our guests are employed earning minimum wage, but are not able to find or afford housing.”
During the hour that Sykes was at the podium, it was reiterated that those seeking the services of the shelter were adults, and the Guesthouse had no control over what those adults did once off the property. Furthermore, it was noted that not all of the downtown disturbances were from Guesthouse guests, as verified later by Mayor Bill Gordon who cited last year’s nudity incident by a Midland resident along King Street which went viral in social media.
However, criticisms were fired at Sykes with the majority led by Coun. Bill Meridis who hammered his opinion that poor management was to blame, striking the same focal point several times throughout the discussion. One instance he cited involved a passing observation where more than 50 people gathered in the rear parking lot.
“I think the management needs to pay more attention to the outside premises; its open drug use, sexual activities and inappropriate gestures to the public,” said Meridis. “Management also needs to improve in its responsibility to ensure that its neighbouring businesses and dwellings are not negatively affected by the activities of the guests of the Guesthouse or who they attract.”
Sykes retorted: “We are not responsible for what goes on in the rest of the community – we can’t be. We are in constant contact with the police who throw up their hands and say, ‘What are we supposed to do?’ They can pick people up, they can take them away and those same people will be back in the parking lot doing what they want to do within four hours.”
A comment about the inability to secure a garbage lid prompted several on council to hone in on proposed suggestions to acquire a new garbage container. One point of new information on sharps (needles, syringes) surprised many in attendance.
“(As of this week), we have stopped handing out harm reduction products in an attempt to clean (discarded sharps in the Guesthouse vicinity),” said Sykes. “As a council, you’re going to hear this within the next month or two – because the problem is going to be moved; (controlled) harm reduction products will be handed out… by the health unit.
“Anyone who wants to use will have to go up to the health unit, which sits very closely to a local high school. So you can expect to hear some concerns coming from that direction very soon. We’re moving the problem about, we’re not solving it – and that’s not us,” cautioned Sykes.
The topic of a long-awaited elevator for the facility was also brought up, with full operation anticipated by October; as the Guesthouse had been continued through volunteer efforts with many retirees, the decade-long “stumbling block” could solve accessibility, but Sykes stated that volunteer aging remained an issue.
Funding revolved around many of the criticisms, with suggestions from council members often being agreed to by Sykes if only there were monies available. County funding equated to 70 per cent staffing, 15 per cent program and building maintenance, 10 per cent food and supplies and five per cent administration.
Meridis used the opening to return to management capability as he countered with financial audits regarding staffing costs, adding that he would be conveying the numbers with Simcoe County social and community services general manager Mina Fayez-Bahgat “so we can get this solved”.
Gordon thanked Sykes for “bravely standing at the podium”, accepting responsibility where applicable while countering negative stereotypes when brought up.
Following the meeting, Gordon told MidlandToday that the matured council members were more accommodating to a Guesthouse appearance, in comparison to an abrasive presentation in early 2023.
“When I talked to the Guesthouse staff about revisiting council,” said Gordon, “I assured them that there’d be pointed questions but they wouldn’t evolve the way it did before. And a lot of that was just out of emotion because council didn’t know enough about the service, they didn’t know the limitations and quite frankly, it was relatively new councillors. Now, time has passed.
“The challenges haven’t passed; we’re experiencing more of the issues and it’s an incremental scale. It’ll just keep climbing, unfortunately, no matter how much housing we approve,” Gordon added.
Gordon also noted that supportive transitional housing was the “missing piece” between the Guesthouse’s urban crisis shelter bed and someone getting a room or apartment, and as the land use planning and land supplier, a potential request to council could be on the horizon in filling that role.
Council meetings are held every third Wednesday, and can be viewed on Rogers TV cable channel 53 when available, or through the livestream on the Rogers TV website. Archives of council meetings are available through Rogers TV and on the Town of Midland’s YouTube channel.