Two Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers visited a home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, on Friday while searching for a suspect in an impaired driving incident. Unbeknownst to them, the man they were looking for had been deceased for over a year, a victim of an unsolved homicide. The encounter was recorded on a doorbell camera at the residence of Leslie Sparks, the mother of Tyrell Beals.

Beals's body was discovered in May 2022 near a road in North Preston, and authorities reported that he had suffered gunshot wounds. In July, the RCMP issued a public appeal for information to help solve the homicide case.

An RCMP spokesperson did not provide an interview regarding the incident but stated that officers were responding to a report of an impaired driver in the 800 block of Sackville Drive in Lower Sackville. The officers mistakenly approached Sparks's home, where they quickly realized that the individual they were seeking did not live there. The spokesperson noted that the name of the suspect was similar to that of a former resident.

During the encounter, Sparks's 15-year-old daughter was present, along with Beals's young twin daughters. The video shows the teenager questioning the officers, asking, "How do you have a complaint for someone who's not even alive?" One officer appeared confused by the question.

Sparks, who was out running errands at the time, joined the conversation via speakerphone. She told the officers, "He's not driving anything because you can't drive a car in heaven," and criticized them for not being aware of her son's death. "I don't know who made a complaint, but you guys need to … you got to get things right," she added.

An officer apologized for the misunderstanding and assured Sparks that they would inform the complainants about the situation. However, Sparks found the apology insufficient. "Haven't we been through enough?" she said in an interview. "You [RCMP] just keep traumatizing me and my family over and over. I don't know why you didn't get the memo, RCMP, but my son's been dead since last year."

Sparks expressed her frustration, stating that the incident has intensified her belief that the police are not adequately investigating her son's case. "There is no investigation," she claimed. "I truly believe their investigation is just to silence me."

The incident has raised concerns about the RCMP's handling of the ongoing homicide investigation and the impact of their actions on the victim's family.