Mother gives tearful testimony at inquest into Chantel Moore’s death
Young Indigenous woman was killed by police during a wellness check in 2020
Martha Martin caressed a well-worn eagle feather, a symbol of courage and strength, as she delivered emotional testimony to the five jurors at the opening day of the coroner’s inquest into her daughter Chantel Moore’s death.
Martin was the last of three witnesses to give testimony May 16, following a jury selection of three women and two men, all believed to be non-indigenous, according to T.J. Burke, a lawyer for the family.
Taking frequent breaks prompted by seemingly empathetic coroner Emily Casey, Martin sobbed on the stand as she recalled the last time she saw her 26-year-old daughter alive on June 3, 2020. She said she had given her a dozen beer and some rum to share with friend to celebrate her first night in her new apartment.
“She gave me a hug, she gave me a kiss, and said, ‘Thanks, Mom.’ She was her bubbly self,” Martin told the jury.
The friend, 23-year-old Chelsea Ouellette, addressed the jury virtually from her home in Edmundston, N.B. Ouellette recalled picking Moore up from her waitressing shift at Boston Pizza in the early evening of June 3, 2020 and stopping at Martin’s home before going to Moore’s new apartment.
Ouellette told the jury the two had some drinks and she left Moore’s apartment around midnight, but returned an hour later when she realized she had forgotten her wallet. She said Moore was on a Facetime call with a friend in British Columbia and seemed happy. Moore walked Ouellette to her car and asked her to let her know when she arrived home safely. Ouellet said she messaged Moore later that night and received a response in the third-person singular that read, “She was passed out,” which could have suggested that someone else was there and using Moore’s phone.
Johnathan Brunet, Moore’s ex-boyfriend, told the jury that it was around the same time that he had also received alarming messages from Moore’s phone suggesting that she could be in danger. Speaking in French, and translated for the benefit of English-speaking members of the jury, Brunet said one of the messages read, “This bitch is going to be gone.” Worried for her safety, he said he called the police.
Const. Jeremy Son of the Edmundston Police Force visited Martin’s house at around 2:30 a.m. on June 4, 2020, looking for Moore. Martin said she gave Son the address of her daughter’s s apartment and when he left, she tried to reach her daughter by phone but didn’t get a response.
Martin said at 4:19 a.m. she was woken by someone pounding on her front door. When she opened it, two Edmundston police officers gave her the news that her daughter had been shot and killed.
Testimony will continue tomorrow morning, May 17, when members of the Edmundston Police Force are expected to take the stand, including Son, the officer who shot and killed Moore.
Moore family lawyer T.J. Burke said the family will also file a civil lawsuit May 17 claiming negligence against the Edmundston Police Force and the City of Edmundston.