Murdered teen recalled as a ‘champion of the underdog’
A teen shot to death in Grande Prairie is being remembered as a “champion of the underdog” by her mother.
Hannah Sutton, 16, was the type of person to help others who were down and out, her mother Jennifer Zammit said in an interview Thursday.
“She was always trying to help someone else, even at a cost to herself,” Zammit said.
Sutton’s 19-year-old boyfriend stands accused of her murder.
Zammit said Sutton lived with her in Fort St. John, B.C., and was visiting in Grande Prairie when she died.
“She was one of those people that if she was your friend, she was your fiercest friend and would defend you to the end,” Zammit said. “She had an amazing personality, and an adoration for animals.”
When Zammit would get change after buying fast food, Sutton would ask if they could give the change to a person living on the street.
Sutton met her boyfriend — who was her oldest brother’s best friend — when she was 14 and the pair had been on again, off again, Zammit said.
The family took her boyfriend in after his parents kicked him out and at one point he lived with them for two years, Zammit said.
The family got him back into school and were working to get him a job, she added.
Zammit said the boyfriend broke down sobbing, saying that he was trying to kill himself, and Sutton grabbed the gun from him and she was hit by a bullet.
“I could totally see that being something Hannah would do,” Zammit said.
She added she may not have all the information about the shooting that police do.
Her daughter’s boyfriend called Zammit to bring him to the police station to confess to his crimes and she told him to get a lawyer. To this day, he calls Sutton’s parents “mom and dad.”
“I’m going to have to sit in the trial and hear all the evidence to make my decision as to whether or not I believe he maliciously tried to hurt my daughter,” Zammit said.
Police found Sutton’s body after being called to a home near 94 Avenue and 100 Street in Grande Prairie around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
Justice Watt-Blais, 19, of Grande Prairie was charged with second-degree murder, RCMP said Thursday in a news release.
Charges are pending against four other male suspects accused of being accessories after the fact to murder, according to RCMP.