It’s been one year since a 24-year-old Calgary woman was killed in her Pineridge home. Friends and family are remembering Chelsea Serpentini-Harty Friday, hoping the tragic end to her life will save other women caught in domestic abuse.
Serpentini-Harty’s body was found Aug. 26, 2015. Her 26-year-old boyfriend, Jonathan Martin, has been charged with her murder and his trial is set to begin later this year.
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Serpentini-Harty’s friends, Jessica Dell and Cheryl Ann Holtz, are remembering their friend as a positive, strong-willed person.
“We don’t want her to be just a headline anymore,” Dell said. “We want her name out there. We want everyone to hear her story—that she just wasn’t this murder victim.”
Watch below: (Aug. 29, 2015) Chelsea Serpentini-Harty was killed in her Pineridge home. Her boyfriend has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. As Tracy Nagai reports, friends say they saw warning signs leading up to her death but there was nothing they could do.
Holtz said Serpentini-Harty and her boyfriend had been living together for about a month. She said there were some troubling signs of possible abuse leading up to her death.
“A lesson should be learned from this. I believe on Facebook two days ago I said, ‘become that voice—not just for Chelsea but for all women and/or men who are in abusive relationships. Become that voice,’” Holtz said.
“Stop making excuses for the violence. Walk away while you still can.”
Friends will get together to remember Chelsea and pay tribute to her life Friday night in Elliston Park.
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If you are experiencing or have questions about domestic abuse, please call: 403-234-7233 (SAFE)
If you are experiencing or have questions about sexual abuse and sexual assault, please call: 403-237-5888
Distress Centre (403) 266-HELP (4357)
Family Violence Information Line 310-1818 (Toll Free)
If you are in immediate danger, call 911
With files from Global’s Bindu Suri
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