Mom pleads for tips in teen son’s death
Woman pleads for tips one year after Edmonton teen killed in a Surrey alley
On Saturday, Kim Krupa threw a birthday party for her son Tanner Krupa, who was killed in Surrey, B.C., last year. The party was held on an acreage outside Edmonton. Around 160 people attended.
“His birthday was on Aug. 14,” she said. “I’d been planning for months and months. (I) got crazy things like boas and glasses and beads and just made it a big birthday party.”
Krupa made a public plea for information on the one-year anniversary of her son’s death Tuesday.
Tanner Krupa’s killing remains unsolved. He was 19 when he was killed in a back alley in Surrey, B.C. Originally from Edmonton, he had started a new job in the Lower Mainland city just three days before his death. His roommate and co-worker said he had gone to the store for cigarettes.
In a news release Tuesday, Surrey RCMP said they were called to an altercation in the 6900 block of 127A Street on Aug. 20, 2017. They arrived just after 5 a.m. and found Krupa dead in a back alleyway. Investigators did not specify the cause of Krupa’s death.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which investigates homicides across B.C.’s Lower Mainland, said they have identified a group of men they believe were involved in Krupa’s death. The men are “associated to” two newer model cars — a white Toyota Corolla and a white Honda Civic — seen on video surveillance.
“Investigators believe some of the males in the group did not participate in the assault but they were bystanders with first-hand information about what happened to Tanner,” investigators said in a news release.
Tanner Krupa had moved to the Lower Mainland in July 2017, where he had found work as a directional driller laying fibre optic lines in Abbotsford. He’d never been in trouble with the law.
The weeks leading up to the anniversary of his death have been painful, Kim Krupa said. He was her only child, although he has two stepsisters and a stepbrother.
“I’ve been a year without him, and nobody’s been brought to justice, nobody’s been caught for it,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-4448 or Crime Stoppers.