‘It’s overwhelming’
Rally held to call for investigation into North Sydney teen’s death
John Parr thought he was going to have a memorable Father’s Day.
The 34-year-old Sydney man had expected to be talking to his son, Joneil Hanna, instead of walking in a rally calling for justice for the 17-year-old’s death.
“I was looking forward to wishing him happy Father’s Day for the first time. He called me every year,” Parr, 34, said about his only child.
About 260 people attended the rally, called Justice for Joneil, which was held Sunday afternoon outside the Cape Breton Regional Police office in Sydney Mines. There were infants and toddlers, teens, parents and senior citizens in attendance.
The mood was sombre and quiet at the start. Then the crowd walked a block up from the police office, toward the legion, then back down where they stopped on the opposite side road from the station to yell and shake signs, before going back to where they started.
Drivers honked their horns in support throughout the two hours of the rally.
James Arron Young, 19, rode his skateboard up and down the road, urging people to honk in support. After a half hour, chants calling for answers and demanding justice began.
Police didn’t show up to the event.
Like many people there, Parr said he wants justice and a thorough investigation, adding that he hopes everyone with information about the night Hanna died will speak to authorities.
Jenn Hanna, Hanna’s mother, was at the event with her family. Even though the 32-year-old thought there would be a lot of people, she wasn’t prepared for it.
“It’s overwhelming. Just the support he has, from family and friends,” she said while holding Joneil’s eight-month-old daughter, Harper Christie.
Robert Bartlett from Leitches Creek didn’t know the family but attended because he has been following news about the investigation.
The accident that killed Hanna happened on Highway 223 in front of his house.
Bartlett saw some of what police were doing at the scene and said he didn’t understand why so many police cars were at the site, “maybe 10”, or why the canine unit was called in.
Rally organizer Amanda MacDonald said they held the event at the Sydney Mines police office because that is the station doing the investigation. The station is closed on weekends.
“I hope they just realize we’re not going to let this slide,” the married mother of one told the Post.
“The inconsistencies the police have told people are incredible. The story they keep telling keeps changing.”
A common conversation at the rally involved the decision by police to not give breathalyzer test to the driver of the vehicle that hit Hanna, who stayed on scene after the accident.
“If he was sober why not do it to clear him?” asked Stephen Hanna, Hanna’s grandfather.
“Now we have a lost life and a ruined life,” Kim Hanna, Hanna’s grandmother, added.
During the rally, 200 people
signed a petition calling for the Serious Incident Response Team to open an investigation into how Cape Breton Regional Police officers
conducted the roadside investigation on June 10.
As far as the investigation, Jenn Hanna said she has not had
an update from police and keeps texting daily.