MURDER TRIAL POSTPONED
Victim’s sisters anxious for closure
After coming all the way to Regina from Arizona, Celeste Yawney’s sisters are heading home weeks ahead of schedule.
Janine Pereira, Laurel Gardiner and Yvonne Yawney had planned on being back in Saskatchewan — where they were born and raised — for several weeks for the trial of Duran Justin Redwood, the man accused of second-degree murder in the May 2015 death of their 33-year-old sister, Celeste.
Instead, they found out the day before they were to fly to Regina that Redwood had fired his lawyer, making an adjournment necessary.
A new trial date hasn’t yet been set.
“We were all completely shocked,” said Pereira. “We wanted our chance to be able to just support Celeste by being there and we felt like we wanted some closure for this part of it. We all prepared ourselves to be here, in order to be hearing the hard things that we would have to hear. But we wanted to be here to show support to our sister ... We are just really disappointed that the trial was delayed again.”
The sisters came anyway, deciding to attend a brief Friday court date to provide what support they could for Celeste.
Pereira said one of the hardest parts now is the idea of having to get themselves to the same point of emotional readiness in the future.
“All of us prepared ourselves emotionally, financially, mentally,” she said, adding she attended some counselling to try to help her in that respect. “We were looking for this kind of weight off of our shoulders and (to be) able to kind of let some of this go and work on other things. And without this happening, it’s still sitting there, heavy on our chests. And it’s hard. It’s just very disheartening.”
“It just seems 2½ years is too long,” added Gardiner.
The sisters said that, while they’re tired of waiting to get the trial over with, they will continue to work on ensuring their sister has a voice through them.
“We want to keep Celeste’s name out there,” Pereira said. “We want people to remember her.”
For their part, the sisters remember a woman full of energy, excitement and spontaneity with a contagious laugh.
“She loved people,” said Pereira. “She loved everyone. She loved the people that were hard to love. She had friends everywhere. There was almost 1,000 people at her funeral. And she was generous and kind. She was the kind of person who would do anything for you ... She had a kind heart and she trusted people.”
The mother of two kids of her own, Celeste was also a favourite aunt who took her visiting sisters’ kids for candy, to Regina museums and to the beach, and who played loud music in the car for them.
“Anyone who knew her loved her,” said Pereira. “She found the best in others. And we miss her.”