Alex Whitehead. (Submitted photo)

By Nigel Maxwell

Tragic events

Police identify New Year’s Day homicide victim

Jan 4, 2022 | 5:00 PM

A young man murdered New Year’s Day in Prince Albert is being remembered as a passionate basketball fan who never hesitated to help a friend or family member.

Alex Whitehead, 20, died in hospital Saturday, after initially being found at a midtown residence suffering from life-threatening injuries. According to a statement from police, officers responded, just before 4 a.m., after a complaint of a weapons discharge.

A thick line of yellow police tape was placed around the property. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

The night prior to his death, Whitehead had asked his sister Charmaine Poorman to be a designated driver for him and his girlfriend, as they were planning to attend a New Year’s Eve party.

“I told him yes that I could. He then told me that he would still try find a different DD because he didn’t want to bother me because I was pregnant,” she wrote in a statement for paNOW.

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When Poorman requested her brother call her for any reason if his DD could not get him home, Whitehead agreed.

“He told me yes for sure and thank you. And that was the last time we had talked to each other,” she said.

Alex was an avid fisherman. (Facebook)

Alex was also widely known for his generosity. (Facebook)

Whitehead graduated from Meath Park school, and was an accomplished track athlete and basketball player who according to Poorman, never hesitated to ask his family to join in on a quick game at the Meath Park playgrounds. Still reeling from the events that have happened, she said her brother Alex was truly a caring young man who worked hard for the things he wanted.

“He wanted to save to buy a car, he saved to buy a car. Anything he put his mind to he was finding one way or another to accomplish it,” she said.

Poorman added her brother was always learning new things and helping anyone as much as he could.

“Some days all you’d need is just a good visit and he’d just sit there with you and talk. And he was a great listener. He was always finding a way to understand you. And then would still have the best things to say to you,” she said.

On Monday, officers with the Criminal Investigation Division, Patrol Section and Forensic Identification Section executed a search warrant at a residence in the 300 Block of 13th St. E. as part of the ongoing investigation. No arrests have been made yet.

A police forensics vehicle was observed Monday in the 300 block of 13th St. E. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

In a statement from police, investigators thanked the public for forwarding video from surveillance cameras to assist in this homicide investigation.

Anyone who has information in regard to this incident and has not yet spoken with police is asked to call the Prince Albert Police Service or Crime Stoppers.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell