A 20-year-old man is charged with with first-degree murder in the death of Andrew Merasty.

Merasty, 25, was found with a gunshot wound in the 1800 block of 20th Street West on Aug. 18, according to a police news release. He would later die in hospital as a result of his injuries.

At the time, it was Saskatoon's 10th homicide of 2019.

Craig Don Gladue appeared in Saskatoon provincial court Friday morning. He was remanded and will return to court on Dec. 12.

The victim's mother, Jennifer Merasty, said the charges offer some solace, as it's been months since her son died.

"I've been always wondering who did it, so it's a bit of closure," she said in a phone interview with CBC.

For her, the death has been hard, as she remembers her son as a kind person who loved to work and loved his job, as Merasty would regularly work as a roofer.

"I'm still struggling," she said. "I still can't believe he's gone. I still believe that if he was shot anywhere else on his body, he would have survived, but the bullet pierced his heart."

Police blocked off the area around where Drew Merasty was found fatally injured. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)

In an earlier interview with the CBC, Merasty's cousin Stephen Merasty said he was a good kid who "just got lost in the game of meth," noting that Merasty was a Terror Squad-affiliated "plug," which means he was working as a street-level dealer.

Merasty said she wasn't sure which gang her son was involved with, but said it's her understanding he had left the Terror Squad for another gang, noting she felt Saskatoon police did a good job with its investigation.

"I knew that the gangs are really tight-lipped and I'm glad they were able to find who [allegedly] it was," she said.

Merasty said she hopes that the process moves through the courts quickly and the man who is charged in connection to the death is convicted.

Alongside murder charges, the 20-year-old man is also facing charges of using a firearm in the commission of an offence, unauthorized possession of a firearm and recklessly discharging a firearm.