Edmonton police say they've charged Darren Jason Young, 37, in the 1997 homicide of James Milliken.

Young, who was 19 at the time, has been charged with second degree murder in connection with the murder of Milliken on May 17, 1997.

Young was taken into custody by Medicine Hat police yesterday after new information allowed investigators to issue a warrant for his arrest.

A statement attributed to Milliken's family indicates that the laying of the charge "comes as a great relief." They go on to say that while the arrest won't help them deal with the grief and that there is no justice, that "perhaps some closure can now begin."

The incident occurred on the evening of May 16, 1997. After spending the night socializing, James Milliken and friends walked through a parking lot at Abbottsfield Mall in north east Edmonton.

“People were drinking, things were said, and there was an altercation between two groups coming across one another,” Staff Sgt. Bill Clark said.

It was there that Milliken and his friends allegedly became involved in a fight with a street gang called “The North Side Boys” that escalated to Milliken being stabbed in the chest. Treated at the scene, Milliken was taken to hospital and died shortly after.

EPS made an arrest, and charges were laid – but another individual confessed to the murder and the initial charges were stayed.

“Investigators were able to determine at the time that the individual who took the stand had not told the truth and his confession on the stand was false,” Clark said.

Police said Friday that 191 unsolved cases are currently on the books – some dating back as far as 1939. However, 136 of those cases, or more than two thirds, date back to 2000.

With files from Dan Grummett