Police have released the names of a woman and her two-year-old son who were found murdered in Kelowna.
The bodies of 28-year-old Karen Smith and her toddler, Ayden Miller, were discovered in the bedroom of their two bedroom townhome on Highway 33 Wednesday.
RCMP Const. Steve Holmes said Smith's mother made the grisly find.
"There was some concern on the family member's part as they had not heard from Karen and they had gone over there to see if everything was all right," he said.
Holmes said he couldn't confirm how long the bodies had been there.
"But when the call came in it was not a significant length of time."
Smith's 27-year-old boyfriend, Nicholas Brian Cooper, was arrested at the home and has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
At a press conference Friday, officers working on the case offered up stirring emotions along with the facts of the case.
"Let's just hold our families a little bit more dearly in our interactions with them," said Const. Holmes. "Tell them we love them, that many more times because the family of these innocent people, the holiday season will never be the same for them -- it will always be a painful one, marked by grief and by questions that will never be fully answered."
Neighbours say Coopper was very depressed and often didn't leave the house for weeks at a time.
Coopper is known to police, and spent years in jail for a manslaughter conviction. He stabbed 21-year-old Dallas Buchan to death in Kimberly eight years ago.
Coopper will remain in police custody until his bail hearing Jan. 8.
With files from The Canadian Press
