Friday night was emotional for a large crowd who gathered in northwest Calgary for a candlelight vigil, paying tribute to two young children who were allegedly killed by their father.
The identities of the five-year-old boy and three-year-old girl, as well as their father, who’s 37 and charged with first-degree murder in the children’s deaths, cannot be made public due to a publication ban.
At the vigil, the children’s mother thanked the crowd for their show of support. Many members of the city’s Eritrean community attended.
The Immigrant Outreach Society organized the event. The group’s director, Adanech Sahilie, said she has spent time with the children’s mother over the last week, helping her access grief counselling.
“Everyone can come together and grieve together and even, I believe, those kids in heaven, they will watch us and feel loved. Even mom to see this support, it meant a lot to her,” Sahilie said.
The vigil was held on the 4500 block of 14th Street N.W., in the North Haven area, not far from where the children’s bodies were found in a vehicle on April 30.
(Colleen Underwood/CBC)
Police say the father called the Calgary Police Service, telling them he had killed the children.
Police say the parents had been in a six-year common-law relationship that ended last year, and they shared custody of the children.
Sahilie said she has been advocating for years for more supports for community members facing domestic violence, but has not seen change, she said.
“It feels like, especially these days, it shows clearly our broken system,” she said.
The vigil was filled with emotion as community members grieved the deaths of a five-year-old boy and his three-year-old sister. (Colleen Underwood/CBC)
Other vigil attendees included Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi and the riding’s NDP MLA Lizette Tejada.
“I am also a mother, and I know that this grief is unimaginable,” Tejada told the crowd.
The father is due in court again next month.