People in a west-end Ottawa neighbourhood reacted with shock and relief after hearing a young neighbour had been charged with killing Jennifer Teague, whose body was found in some woods last fall.

Kevin Davis, 24, who lived in the Barrhaven neighbourhood, was charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday. Ottawa Police Chief Vince Bevan told a news conference that day that he had repeatedly told police that he killed Teague.

Kevin Davis, shown in a yearbook photo from St. Paul's High School, was charged with the first-degree murder of Jennifer Teague on Tuesday.

Teague, 18, disappeared after working the nightshift at a Wendy's restaurant in the neighbourhood on Sept. 7, 2005. Her body was found 11 days later in a wooded area of the city's west end, about five kilometres from the restaurant.

Teague's father, Ed, was at the police headquarters when details of the arrest were announced. He said he was happy to see someone charged in the slaying.

"Does it bring relief? A certain amount," he said. "But it won't bring my daughter back.

Jennifer Teague, 18, disappeared after working the nightshift at a Wendy's restaurant in Barrhaven on Sept. 7, 2005.

"Am I elated? I don't know. I'm so tired I can't tell. I understand the young man showed some remorse. I hope he feels a lot of remorse. But the process is not over."

Teague added that he hopes Davis gets a very good lawyer and is tried properly so that — if guilty as charged — he isn't able to escape jail through a legal loophole.

Arrest eases fears gripping neighbourhood

In Barrhaven, news of the arrest spread quickly. Many people expressed relief, saying that the past 10 months had been difficult because they didn't know who had slain one of their neighbours.

Craig Linscott, 18, said the arrest would remove some of the fear he has felt for the safety of his friends.

"I won't let any of my friends that are girls go anywhere at night," Linscott said. "I drive them. I walk them. It's been bad that we've had to be afraid."

Davis's behaviour changed: neighbour

Shirley Morrison, who lives next door to the house where Davis lived, was also glad to hear news of the arrest.

"It's a blessing that they have found him, and that he has owned up to this murder," Morrison said.

'[Kevin Davis was] very friendly and polite, and handsome to boot. He just doesn't seem like anyone who would do this.'-Shirley Morrison, his next-door neighbour

"[Davis was] very friendly and polite, and handsome to boot. He just doesn't seem like anyone who would do this."

But, she added, she had started noticing something different about him lately.

"I just think they, or he, was smoking something, because when I sat out back I could smell something really weird, but [something] I'm not really familiar with. So questions do go through your head."

Davis confessed during drug trip, chief alleges

In Tuesday's news conference and in a statement posted on the Ottawa Police Services website, the police chief said Davis began to behave strangely on June 9 after apparently ingesting psilocybin (magic mushrooms). Police spoke to him after he was reported to be naked and dancing on a road.

In that conversation, the chief said, Davis told the officers several times that he had killed Teague. But after being treated in hospital, he denied any involvement in the case.

The chief then said that on June 26, Davis told several neighbours that he had killed Teague and then approached an off-duty police officer in a shopping area and made the same confession.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. Davis is scheduled for a court appearance on Friday.

If they arrested right person, 'that's good'

Shilpa Arora, 14, said she hopes the man's confession and arrest were legitimate.

"Well, if the guy they arrested is the right guy, then that's good. But, if it's not the guy, then that's bad. If they're just arresting the guy to say, 'Hey, we're arresting the guy, we know what we're doing,' then that's not good."

The city councillor for Barrhaven, Jan Harder, said the community should learn from the experience.

"People will look at their next-door neighbours, hopefully, look at people that they aren't aware of on a daily basis, and maybe pay more attention," she said.