One of the men accused of killing a 23-year-old man in Downtown Kelowna during the 2018 Canada Day celebrations was released on bail Thursday, close to 19 months after he was arrested.
On the evening of July 1, 2018, Esa Carriere was stabbed to death near the Queensway Bus Station while the annual fireworks celebration was going on. Police discovered Carriere in “grave condition” near Kelowna City Hall, and he later died from his injuries in hospital.
More than six months later, police arrested and charged four people with manslaughter, in connection to the Carriere's death.
Two of the accused were 17 years old at the time of the killing, and can't be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, while the others were 28-year-old Nathan Truant and 22-year-old Noah Vaten.
While Truant and the two others were released on bail shortly after their January 2019 arrest, Vaten has remained in custody ever since.
On Thursday, Vaten was granted bail. The details of the bail hearing, and his bail conditions, are protected under a publication ban.
Truant and Vaten's manslaughter trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 22, 2021, while the two other accused will face trial beginning Nov. 9 of this year.
Carriere had recently moved to Kelowna from Mississauga, Ont. prior to his death. He had been working as a cook at Kelly O'Bryan's restaurant on Bernard Avenue. Coworkers remembered him as a “genuinely nice person” who always had a smile.