SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- A police spokesman in the Dominican Republic says a 15-year-old girl has been arrested in the slaying of a Canadian man living in the Caribbean country.

Nelson Rosario says the girl is in custody and will be prosecuted as a juvenile.

Rosario said Tuesday that the girl has admitted fatally stabbing 81-year-old John Verne Ward at his home in the coastal town of La Romana on Aug. 24. He says she told authorities that she was in a relationship with Ward and that she stabbed him after they got into a fight when he tried to prevent her from leaving.

Ward's hometown in Canada was not available. The girl's name was not released because of her age.