Remembering ‘two beautiful souls’
Engaged couple Carissa MacDonald, 27, and Aaron Stone, 28, were shot dead Saturday after a ‘heated argument’ with their landlord
Carissa MacDonald and Aaron Stone were on the doorstep of life’s “next chapter,” their families say.
The young couple was “days away” from moving into a new home and engaged to be married. They were passionate about the outdoors and their careers, and had their lives ahead of them.
Their families should be celebrating a summer wedding. Instead, they’re grieving an unthinkable loss.
“Carissa and Aaron were two beautiful souls,” the families said in a statement shared by police Thursday afternoon.
MacDonald, 27, and fiancé Stone, 28, were shot dead Saturday outside 322 Jones Rd., where they rented a basement apartment, following what police are calling a “heated argument” with their landlord over mould.
The landlord, the suspect in the May 27 shootings, was later killed in a standoff with police.
“What happened to Carissa
and Aaron was truly an act of unnecessary violence and they will be dearly missed,” the families said.
The families say they were honest people and good tenants who “took pride in their home and always paid their bills on time.”
Police have said the dispute wasn’t related to rent payments, and told The Spectator earlier this week the couple had planned to move out by June 1. The investigation is ongoing.
The families are asking for privacy as they grieve, police say.
“Family oriented” and “full of life and love” is how their families describe the pair.
“They loved their family, friends, each other, their fur baby Max and their time spent enjoying the outdoors and nature,” they wrote.
The night of the murders, Max escaped, briefly seeking refuge in a nearby home, according to a neighbour. He was found safe and is staying with family, police said.
The couple valued both work and life, the families said, enjoying the outdoors and spending time with family and friends, and “excelling” in their careers, the families say.
MacDonald was a “dedicated” educational assistant who loved “her kids” — how she referred to students she supported at St. Michael Catholic Elementary School in Dunnville — and colleagues, the families said.
“She loved her job,” they wrote.
The school community is grieving MacDonald’s loss and “trying to come to terms with this senseless act,” the school board said.
An apprentice electrician, Stone was “well respected” among his colleagues, and had passed his exams “with flying colours” after years of studying, the families said.
A spokesperson for his union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 105, previously told The Spec that Stone was “talented” and “universally liked and respected.”
“He possessed so much knowledge,” the families said, adding that he could often be found “tinkering,” working on his truck and other projects.
The scene at the Jones Road home was cleared Wednesday morning. Detectives continue to interview witnesses and neighbours and investigate the deceased’s background, police said Thursday.
“No additional information will be released as it relates to the homicides in order to protect the integrity of the SIU investigation,” police said in the release.