The mother of a 17-year-old girl stabbed and killed in St. Albert, Alta., earlier this month said she wants people to remember her daughter as someone who brought love and light to everyone around her.
On Wednesday, July 17, two teenage girls — aged 13 and 17 — were stabbed at a home in St. Albert’s Riverside neighbourhood. The 13-year-old survived, but the 17-year-old died of her injuries three days later.
“She was just incredible. Her heart was really big and she loved her family, she loved her friends, she loved kids,” said the teen’s mother.
Global News cannot identify the woman or her daughter due to a publication ban on the teen’s identity.
“The short time that we had her, she just made such a huge impact on so many people.”
The girl’s mother clutched a stuffed teddy bear as she spoke about her daughter. The stuffed animal was gifted to her by the Stollery Children’s Hospital. When the bear’s hand is pressed, it plays a recording of the girl’s heartbeat.
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“I keep this with me pretty close all the time. I sleep with it at night so I feel like she’s still close to me. Her youngest brother will come and press the button and he smiles,” the mother said. “It’s nice to just have pieces of her still.
“We always told each other how much we loved each other every day and I just wish I could hear it one more time. But I know she’s still with me.”
The teen recently graduated high school and had aspirations of going to business school to one day open up her own aesthetics business, her mother said. She also wanted to travel, and one day become a mother.
“She was my best friend. I was a teen mom, so I had her really young, so we grew up together. She helped me figure out who I was. She helped me raise her brothers and anytime we went through things, we went through it together.”
The woman said she has received overwhelming support from the community, something that helps get her through the tougher times.
“It helps me get through the days. All the words from everybody and the prayers has just been incredible … She’s very clearly had an impact on a lot of people.”
The mom said investigators have been keeping her as informed as they can on the investigation. She just wants to get through the court process, so her family can try to begin to heal.
“There’s nothing that could be done now that would bring her back. So the loss is already there. I think we just want to get through everything and just start healing,” she said. “I just want to focus on the positives and remember the good and not the negative and how things ended.
“She brought love and light to me and her family and her friends. And that’s what I want her memory to be.”
Kaj Alexander Randall, 28, is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in the incident.