Tyler Jack Newton, 24, has been named in court documents as the man charged with the second degree murder of a Kelowna bus passenger Thursday night.

(Information 81429 laid Saturday before a Justice of the Peace)

Charge: CCC 235 Murder

CCC 235 – Every one who commits murder is guilty of an indictable offence and shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Newton was arrested Friday and charged after a man was fatally stabbed in the neck in an apparently random attack as Newton was leaving the busy bus.

“As the male suspect left the bus, he made a shoving motion towards the victim, who was also a passenger,” said Kelowna RCMP in a statement. “The victim was found immediately after suffering from a serious injury which resulted in his death,”

The 24-year-old is due to appear in court on Monday. He has been convicted of drug trafficking and breach of probation. In the past he has been charged with other theft and drug-related offences, but it’s unclear from court records whether he was convicted.

Police announced his arrest around 7 p.m. PT Friday within 24 hours of the fatal stabbing after telling a news conference earlier in the day they knew who they were looking for and expected to arrest him shortly.

The fatal attack occurred around 6:30 p.m. PT Thursday when the bus with about 20 people aboard stopped at a bus stop on Baron Road behind the Dilworth shopping centre.

Witnesses told police one man in his 20s stabbed another in his 50s in the neck.