‘I can’t live on:’ Daughter of man fatally shot by Regina police seeks answers

Kahaila Morris made a point of walking by the police office near her high school as often as she could.

It was a fear the 16-year-old wanted to overcome.

But she’s still afraid to call police should she someday need help, she says. The dread was fuelled after her father was shot and killed by Regina police one year ago.

She’s still grieving and nagged by unknowns.

“It still kills me inside because they don’t give us answers. And we deserve the answers,” Kahaila tearfully told The Canadian Press.

“I wanted to live on for him. And I can’t live on without knowing what happened to him.”

The death of Geoff Morris, 41, was the second fatal police shooting in Regina in about 20 years.

Police Chief Evan Bray has said officers went to an apartment to check on a disturbance on May 4, 2019. Officers allegedly found Morris armed with a knife and holding a woman hostage.

Police tried de-escalating things, Bray said, but an officer feared someone could be seriously injured and fired his gun.

The officer involved in Morris’s death, a 15-year member of the force, was given time off and has since returned to duty, says police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich.

Regina’s major crimes unit investigated his death and a government-appointed observer was tasked with producing a final report. Popowich says police recognize the lengthy process is hard for the Morris family.

Saskatchewan’s Coroners Service has also had to delay the scheduling of inquests because of the COVID-19 pandemic and expects one to be held for the case in 2021.

Donald Worme, a Cree lawyer experienced with police inquests in Saskatchewan, says such deaths always come as a shock to loved ones, regardless of the circumstances.

“You do not expect a family member to meet their end at the hands of those that are there to protect and serve.”

Kahaila says she doesn’t want people to view her dad as a monster.

As his youngest daughter, she says she was daddy’s girl.