22-year-old charged with manslaughter in encampment death
Posted Sep 22, 2026 10:47:00 AM.
A 22-year-old woman is facing a manslaughter charge in the death of a man who was living at an encampment when he died.
On Dec. 22, 2024, officers responded to Geary Street where a man had been assaulted by a woman. Police said paramedics responded, but the man declined medical attention and further police investigation.
A few days later on Dec. 26, police responded to another call to Geary Street, where the same man was found dead in a tent. He was identified as 56-year-old, Jeffrey Alexander Emmerson.
In June 2025, the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service called the death a homicide.
As a result of the investigation, officials apprehended Kiara Marie Organ, 22. She’s expected in a Dartmouth court on Tuesday.
“Halifax Regional Police extend their condolences to Mr. Emmerson’s loved ones,” the statement reads.
In July 2020, the Geary Street site was one of nine locations within the Halifax region officially designated as temporary encampments for unhoused people amid a widespread housing shortage.
By 2025, the municipality confirmed the Geary Street encampment would be “de-designated” and the four people sleeping rough there were told they had until June to move to a provincially funded shelter or to another of the municipality’s four remaining designated encampments.
