Halloween stabbing to trial

Trial dates have been set for a young Merritt man accused in a Halloween stabbing.

Braeden Douglas Jackson, 20, is facing charges of aggravated assault and breach of a probation order stemming from an incident on Oct. 31, 2023, in Merritt.

Details of the allegations against him are protected by a court-ordered publication ban, but police have said witnesses reported seeing a stabbing take place at the Merritt Community Garden, adjacent to the Nicola Valley Hospital.

The victim, a 42-year-old man, walked into the hospital’s emergency department with a stab wound to the torso, police said.

Jackson’s trial dates were set in the B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday. His trial is slated to get underway on May 26, 2025, at the Kamloops Law Courts.