Halifax, Nova Scotia — Prominent Canadian activist Raymond Taavel, 49, was beaten to death in Halifax this week.

Police arrested a mental patient, Andre Denny, in an alleyway nearby. Denny had failed to return from unsupervised leave.

Taavel was the past chairman of the Halifax Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade and served for years as the editor of the LGBT Wayves magazine.

Police said they are aware this might be considered a hate crime, reported Canada.com, but at this point it looks like Taavel was trying to break up a fight between the suspect and another man when the suspect turned on him.

Hundreds of people attending a Tuesday night vigil for Taavel.

"Raymond produced spectacular events, wrote hundreds of articles for Wayves- interviews, news pieces, opinion pieces," the grieving magazine staff said in a statement on GayHalifax.com. "He took thousands of photographs and most importantly, he coached a hundred writers, professional and non, into taking an interest in their communities, and making things better by shining light on the beautiful parts of life -- and the ugly."