Nina Courtepatte’s mother dies after battle with cancer

EDMONTON – An Alberta mother who fought to bring her daughter’s killers to justice and to make changes to the justice system has passed away.

Peacha Atkinson died Friday while undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer, according to her family.

“The Courtepatte family is extremely saddened and heartbroken to announce that Peacha Atkinson has passed away. May she and Nina be externally united,” an online statement reads.

In 2005, Atkinson’s 13-year-old daughter Nina Courtepatte was raped, stabbed and beaten to death after being lured from West Edmonton Mall to a golf course.

READ MORE: Stolen youth: The murder of Nina Courtepatte

After her daughter’s death, Atkinson became an activist, organizing marches and speaking at a rallies, hoping to change the justice system, with calls for harsher sentences for youths convicted of crimes.

READ MORE: Man convicted in Edmonton teen’s murder on golf course denied appeal

Joseph Laboucan and Michael Briscoe are both serving life sentences for Courtepatte’s murder.

During Briscoe’s trial, the judge ruled Briscoe didn’t directly commit the acts, but assisted Laboucan in the crime.

Three other young people were also convicted in Courtepatte’s death.

In 2010, Stephanie Bird was handed an adult sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, after the Crown appealed to the supreme court on Bird’s original conviction of kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and manslaughter. Bird was 17-years-old at the time of Courtepatte’s killing.

Her family is fundraising online for her funeral and to pay off debts.