Brandon Prevey was found dead in his vehicle shortly after 3 a.m. in southeast Red Deer.“We don’t see this level of violence in our city,” Red Deer RCMP spokesman Sabrina Grunow said yesterday.
“We have had our share of homicides in the past, but this, by far, is very unusual and ultimately alarming.”She said the city is no stranger to serious assaults and knife violence, but death by firearm – police are not releasing what type of weapon may have been used – is not something police see often.She added that Prevey, 29, is believed to have been connected to gangs and the drug trade and was known to police.Rayhan Jones, an incarcerated friend of the victim’s, says Prevey was a member of the Crazy Dragons gang, a claim police would not confirm.“Living like this, everybody knows that people get shot,” Jones said when asked if he was surprised to hear the news. “(It’s) just living the life of a gangster.”He added that he believed Prevey was the father of a young child.Grunow said the victim recently moved from Edmonton to Red Deer.Residents of the high-end subdivision were surprised to see police at their doorsteps.“It’s shocking news,” said one neighbour, who lives about three blocks away and asked not to be identified. “I was really, really surprised, I’ve never seen cops like that in the area before.”He added the area is generally safe.
Municipal officials were equally caught off-guard by the kind of violence usually associated with bigger cities.“It’s a pretty unhappy event in any community. We’re a small city, so anything like this is very unusual, to say the least,” Coun. Gail Parks said. “I don’t think it’s any secret that we have gangs in Red Deer.”She said Highway 2 is a popular corridor with criminals and Red Deer is a “natural stop” for them between Calgary and Edmonton.
“I hope that we can make it so unpleasant that they wouldn’t want to be here,” Parks continued. “I don’t know why or how this could have happened in our community, but I guess I’d say it’s one less bad guy.”Prevey made headlines in 2005 after Kenyon Joseph Gardiner, 20, was stabbed to death and four people were shot or stabbed at a May 15 house party in west Edmonton.Prevey was originally charged with second-degree murder, but after witnesses failed to show up for the trial, he ended up pleading guilty to assaulting one of the other party-goers.
He was sentenced to a year in jail in early 2007.Police are asking for the public’s assistance in solving the case they have few leads on.“Given the time of night that it happened, and the fact that the only thing we have at this point for suspects is a small black car, ultimately we are leaning towards the public’s assistance in maybe helping us with some information,” Grunow said.