VANCOUVER — The mother of a young man killed outside a Vancouver nightclub in 2009 said she feels a mix of gratitude and continued grief following the conviction of three people charged in the stabbing death of her son Tyson Edwards.
“All I can say is that it’s been four years almost, and I’m happy about the verdict. Obviously it’s too late for Tyson,” Carla Edwards told The Vancouver Sun on Tuesday.
Patrick Plowman, Sebastian Miazga and Nolan Swallow were found guilty of manslaughter Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court.
A fourth person charged in the case, Kalum Cain, was found not guilty by Judge Victor Curtis on grounds there was not enough evidence to convict him.
Tyson Edwards was stabbed to death on the street outside Richards on Richards Cabaret – a now-shuttered nightclub on Richards Street between Helmcken and Nelson streets – on Feb. 1, 2009. The 21-year-old man was killed around 2:30 a.m. after a rare night out clubbing with friends.
Edwards died in hospital that morning. He was Carla’s only child.
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“We were extremely close. So it’s tough. I see people in the neighbourhood, their kids getting older, and I was robbed basically all of that stuff, weddings and grandkids. So it continues to be a journey,” Carla Edwards said.
She said her son loved dogs and music, especially songs from the 1970s and 1980, and enjoyed working out, playing basketball and spending time with family and friends.
Witnesses were initially reluctant to speak with police, hampering the prosecution. For months his mother made public pleas seeking information in her son’s death.
“Witnesses were really afraid to come forward, but those who did I wish I could just hug right now, because it was a trauma to relive for them and it was horrible to hear over and over, but it was just something that had to be done to get these people off the streets,” Edwards said.
Charges against the four men were laid in December 2009.
Plowman and Swallow are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14, Miazga on Dec. 19.
Plowman and Miazga were arrested in Calgary in December 2009.
Insp. Mike Porteous, head of the major crime sections, said it’s common for suspects in homicides to flee to other parts of the country.
“This was a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and it’s unfortunately something we see all too commonly, where an innocent young man came across some angry young individuals with a high propensity for violence and paid for it with his life,” he said in 2009.
Edwards gave tribute to the officers spearheading the case: “I wanted to give a special thank you to the gang crime unit and to Joe Danieli and Dave Robertson, who are the two lead detectives who worked on the case and really, really supported the family.”
She said she would spend Tuesday at home with family celebrating the verdict and reflecting on nearly four years of angst and grief.
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