16-year-old was fatally stabbed in downtown Kelowna in June

Castanet is counting down the top stories of 2019.

We’ll count down to the year’s No. 1 story on Dec. 31 and publish the newsmaker on New Year’s Day.

Our No. 10 story of 2019 – the fatal stabbing of Eli Beauregard.

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna this past summer, and six months later, no one has been charged.

Just before 11:30 p.m. on June 27, Eli Beauregard was stabbed in the covered parking area behind the BMO bank on the corner of Bernard Avenue and Water Street. He died in the hospital several days later.

On the night of the stabbing, police scoured the downtown core looking for a suspect. Kelowna RCMP initially arrested one person in connection with the stabbing, but that person was then released.

Police said they believe Eli Beauregard and the suspect were known to each other, but no charges have been laid in half a year.

“On June 28, an individual identified by investigators as a suspect was taken into police custody,” Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey told Castanet in early July. “That suspect was later released pending the results of the still ongoing criminal investigation.”

Police checked nearby businesses for surveillance footage in the days after the stabbing, but it's unclear if any video of the incident was found.

Following his son's death, Robyn Iain-Beauregard told Castanet that Eli had been living on the streets after recently moving out of his home.

“He called me from the youth shelter in town here and told me he was happy and healthy and he was doing good,” Iain-Beauregard said. “I asked him if he wanted me to send him some money and he said, 'No, I'm good, I don't need money, I don't need anything, Dad, I'm right where I want to be, I'm happy.'”

He got another phone call from Eli's mother on the night of stabbing.

“I got a phone call from his mom telling me that he was in critical condition in the hospital and that they were going to have to amputate his arm,” Iain-Beauregard said. “When I got to the hospital, I realized it was a lot worse at that point than it was when she called me.

“His heart stopped at the scene, and it stopped again at the hospital. They tried everything over the course of three days to make him comfortable and try and fix what was wrong, but there was just too much damage.”

A week after the stabbing, a man named Chris Cox told Castanet he came upon the scene just after Eli had been stabbed, and that he knows who the killer is.

"I walked up, and I seen a bunch of blood and Eli holding his arm,” Cox said. “That's when ... the person who did it came up to me and said: 'I just stabbed Eli.' She told me she stabbed Eli because he had never been stabbed before."

Cox said he has told his story to the RCMP, and the suspect police initially arrested is the person he believes is responsible.

At a vigil in Kerry Park on July 7, Eli's mother told Castanet she had also heard the same story that Cox told Castanet, and she was still waiting for someone to be held accountable.

Eli's father says the lack of developments in the case has been “very frustrating.”