Mother of late MMA star looking for justice
Accused in hit-and-run faces list of charges, including second-degree murder
Ryan Jimmo is never far from his mother’s mind.
“I’ll never be the same,” said Linda Jimmo, “I don’t even feel happy anymore.”
Her son, a former UFC fighter, was run down by a pickup in a parking lot near 101 Street and Whyte Avenue on June 26, 2016.
Homicide detectives believe after a brief altercation between Jimmo, 34, and the pickup’s driver, the truck accelerated into Jimmo as he walked back to his car.
The senselessness of his death only adds to his family’s grief.
“This should never of happened. There was no rhyme nor reason, and until the day I die I’ll wonder why it happened,” said Linda Jimmo, speaking from the family home in Saint John, N.B.
Linda Jimmo said her son was “the baby of the family,” the youngest of four siblings, whose happy and energetic personality made him the centre of attention.
“He has done everything there is to do, he has been perfect at everything that he’s done, he has gotten into everything he could and excelled at them; he was a big, happy guy,” said Linda Jimmo.
She said his family still shares anecdotes from his life, such as the time he won a golf tournament having never played a game, or how he would sing along with his family as his uncles played guitar, sitting directly in the middle.
“He got along with everybody, he was loved by everybody,” Linda Jimmo said.
Linda Jimmo said 1,000 people gathered for his funeral, and she and her husband still receive notes of condolence from around the world describing the impact their son had on their lives.
“It makes me cry, it makes me happy cry,” she said. “Everybody liked him, but then it makes me sad to think why isn’t he still here to do more for more people. He could have done so much more, and he is gone because of some stupid episode.”
As the trial date for one of the accused, Jordan Wagner, 21 — who was charged with being an accessory after the fact as investigators believe he may have been in the passenger seat of the truck that struck Jimmo — approaches in June, Linda Jimmo said her family is increasingly nervous that those responsible could walk free.
“Not that it’s going to bring Ryan back, but they shouldn’t just walk away from this,” she said.
But even if those accused of killing her son are convicted, she said there will be no justice.
“Their parents are going to be able to see them, whether they’re in jail or walking the street, their parents are still going to be able to talk to them and see them,” she said, adding, “my son is gone.”
Anthony Getschel, 23, was charged with second-degree murder, negligence causing death, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and failing to stop at the scene of an accident where someone has died. He awaits trial.