‘I wish I could hug him. I miss him so much’
Five Calgary stabbing victims remembered as funny, caring and passionate — with full lives ahead of them
CALGARY— The stabbing deaths of five young people this week — the worst mass murder in this city’s history — represent not only five lives cut far too short, but the loss of enormous talent and potential.
Lawrence Hong, 27, had a passion for structural engineering and urban design, and dreamed of working for the City of Calgary after graduating this year. Kaiti Perras, 23, was devoted to dance in her youth, spending four hours every weeknight at a ballet studio. Zackariah Rath- well and Josh Hunter, 23 and 22 respectively, were part of the popular band Zackariah and the Prophets, and were riding high after launching their EP this past Saturday. Rathwell was an accomplished visual artist. And Jordan Segura, 23, another popular musician, had that special gift of knowing just what to say to those grieving the loss of a loved one.
They were funny, caring, passionate, fun-loving — just a few of the adjectives used this week by their families and friends.
All are struggling to understand why someone would want to murder them at a house party as they celebrated the end of classes at the University of Calgary, where most of them were students.
As their loved ones begin to prepare for their funerals, hundreds of people with tear-stained faces have poured into campus halls for vigils in their memory. A growing pile of snow-covered flowers near the police tape at the Butler Cres. home, include special objects that represent the victims: ballet shoes for Perras, a candle for Rathwell and Hunter, a drawing of high school memories for Segura, and a small angel statue, elevated above the other mementos, for all five.
Matthew de Grood, 22, a recent U of Cgraduate and son of a senior Calgary police officer, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the early Tuesday stabbing rampage.
In a small home in suburban Calgary, Lawrence Hong’s mother, Marlene, took pauses and sometimes broke down into tears as she talked about her eldest son on Wednesday.
She had just finished folding some of the clothes he had left in the dryer over the weekend. Later on Wednesday afternoon, she would go see her son’s body for the first time since police knocked on her door Tuesday and gave her the heartbreaking news.
“I have to go. I have to see my son for sure,” said Hong, who was looking forward to celebrating her birthday at the end of the month with Lawrence, who was also born in late April. “We wanted to celebrate everything together as a family. Now it’s all over. . . . I wish I could hug him. I miss him so much. I’ll never get to see him do his graduation march.”
The fourth-year U of C urban studies student was an active volunteer in groups focusing on arts and culture and urban transportation. He was a founder of the Calgary Creative City Collaboration (C4), which aimed to boost the presence of arts and culture in the city, and which held its weekly meetings in the same house where the stabbings took place. His mother was particularly proud of his work with C4, mentioning it often.
His friend, David Cooper, said you could always count on Hong, no matter how busy he was with school. “It was so tragic and so undeserving for this horrible incident to happen to him because he wanted people to love the city they were in, he wanted to be part of a positive change and the thing that really bugs me out of this is that he would have made an amazing planner,” said Cooper, an urban planner himself.
For Perras, who along with Segura was a former Mount Royal University student, dance practice was not only imperative, but a big part of her life. Her friend, Kaitlyn MacArthur, said the two grew up spending four hours every weeknight at the Counterpoint Dance Ballet Studio.
“It always came naturally to her. She did ballet, jazz, lyrical,” said MacArthur. “She worked very, very hard and I don’t think I ever heard her say anything bad about anybody ever. She was the most sincere, kindhearted person.”
At a vigil held Wednesday at the Alberta College of Art and Design, where Rathwell was a first-year student, the wailing in the crowd often rose above the voice of faculty speakers at the microphone. People lined up to sign a note to Rathwell on large sheets of white paper.
Corlia Zaayman, a close friend and the vigil’s organizer, said it wasn’t difficult to have a “schoolgirl crush” on him. “He was so caring. He always made you smile, always made sure you were OK,” she said.
Hunter, a U of C accounting student, had the “million-dollar smile,” said a former boss, which proved to be useful in his job as a valet and bellman over the last two years at a Calgary hotel. Hunter had left to study full-time last year, but planned to come back for the summer.
Segura’s death also marks a bittersweet moment for the staff at McInnis & Holloway Funeral Home where the third-year U of C religious studies student worked as an attendant. He was always very sensitive to the needs of those in mourning, said funeral home president Ernie Hagel, adding staff is “privileged” to be organizing his funeral.
“He very much had a way about him. For him it was natural. He knew where to be and when to be there . . . he just realized people were hurting and he wanted to help.”
Allan Fay, de Grood’s lawyer, said his client has been transferred to the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatric Centre for an assessment. “He’s holding up as well as anyone would under the circumstances,” said Fay. “Obviously, his family is devastated.”
A prosecutor is being brought in from Edmonton to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. With files from Tim Alamenciak