Charges laid in 2021 killing

Four people have now been charged in the 2021 killing of a young Penticton man.

On Thursday, three of the four people charged in the killing of 22-year-old Taig Savage appeared in Penticton court, facing second-degree murder charges. A warrant was issued for the one accused who didn't show up to the court date.

Three of the accused were under 18 when Taig was killed, and their identities are protected by a publication ban under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Isaac Jack, who was 18 at the time of the killing, will be tried as an adult, while the three younger people will be tried separately.

Jack and the two younger people who appeared in court Thursday were not taken into custody, but released on bail conditions, with their next court appearance scheduled for Oct. 9.

Taig was found unresponsive in a field near Penticton Secondary School on the evening of Sept. 5, 2021. He was later pronounced dead at the Penticton Regional Hospital.

The investigation into his death has carried on for several years, with police announcing arrests back in April. But the second-degree murder charges weren't laid until recently.

When Taig was first found dead, police were quick to announce that his killing did not “appear to be a random act” and they did “not believe there is a threat to the general public.”

But Taig's mother says the attack on her son was random.

“The majority of public have thought that this was a drug crime ... it needs to be known that this wasn't a drug crime,” Tracey Savage said. “They had no knowledge of Taig, they had never met Taig before this day. They chose him for whatever reason, it was a random act.

"What they get and what happens to them will be up to a judge and not me, I don't care about that anymore. Clearing my son's name is my mission."

Tracey says her son was a “great kid” who was a hard worker with a local construction company since graduating high school. He was living with his father, near Penticton Secondary School, when he was killed.