Woman stabbed in 'isolated' incident at Coquitlam parkade a mother of young children: homicide team

Police say a woman who was fatally stabbed in a Coquitlam, B.C., parkade was a mother of young children.

Ramina Shah died in hospital following in an incident Thursday afternoon. She'd been found in an underground parkade in an alley behind a strip mall just before dusk.

First responders were called to the scene and life-saving efforts were provided, but she did not survive her injuries. She was 32.

Sgt. David Lee, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said she'd worked in the area.

She'd left for the day and was heading to her car parked in the lot near Austin Avenue and Marmont Street at the time. The parkade does have a gate, but it's unclear if it was open at the time of the attack.

CTV News has since confirmed Shah was an employee of Stonehaus Realty, which is located directly above the parking lot. In a statement, the company said:

“Ramina Shah, a loved member of the Stonehaus family, was the type of person that lit up a room; her presence and outgoing personality was loved by everyone.”

“She was dedicated to starting her new career in real estate while at the same time being an amazing mom to three young children. Our hearts are broken by this tragedy and our prayers and thoughts are with her family and kids.”

Lee said information collected so far suggests her death was an "isolated" incident and was not random, but did not provide details on what evidence suggests the public is not at risk.

Lee was asked to elaborate but would only say the conclusion was based on "information we obtained at the scene."

He said no one is in custody, and he could not speak to the nature of suspects. He also did not speculate on a motive in the case.

At the scene Friday morning, investigators appeared to focus on a white pickup truck parked inside, with fingerprinting powder residue left behind.

The parkade floor had clearly been hosed down recently, but splatters of blood remained on several spots on the ground.

There are security cameras inside, but detectives are still looking for more evidence.

Police are canvassing the area and looking for security and dashboard camera video. They're also looking for witnesses who were in the area at the time, and may not have understood what they saw, as well as friends and associates of the victim.

An Instagram account under the same name suggests Shah was a realtor with an office on Austin Avenue.