Quebec’s independent police investigation bureau is looking into what the local police force did or didn’t do to help Daphné Huard-Boudreault, 18, when she called them to say she was terrified of her ex-boyfriend.
The teen died Wednesday from stab wounds as she went to pick up her belongings at the apartment she shared with Anthony Pratte-Lops at 422 Forest St., Mont-Saint-Hilaire, just south of Montreal.
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Huard-Boudreault’s friends say the teen reached out to police just hours before her death.
“They are supposed to help and protect us,” said Shannon Meilleur, the manager at the Otterburn Park depanneur where Huard-Boudreault worked.
“I don’t think they helped her or protected her.”
Early Wednesday morning, video surveillance shows the 18-year-old at work at the depanneur, pleading with her ex-boyfriend to leave her alone.
Friends say Huard-Boudreault’s day started badly.
When she went to get into her car to drive to work, she found Pratte-Lops inside.
Friends say he drove with her and wouldn’t leave her alone, taking her cellphone and refusing to return it.
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Colleagues encouraged her to call the authorities, who eventually sent him away in a taxi.
They told Huard-Boudreault he had said she could go to their apartment to gather personal belongings, according to friends.
“The police officers did not do very much,” said colleague Sophie Andrée Savard.
“They were in front of him and they did not say, ‘it’s OK, go away.’ They just listened to what he had to say.”
Later that morning, her ex started texting Huard-Boudreault’s colleagues from her cellphone to say she could go to their apartment at 1 p.m. to gather her things.
Friends say just before she left for the day, Huard-Boudreault curled up in a ball … and cried about how scared she was.
He also posted a rambling video online, threatening Huard-Boudreault and accusing her of cheating.
“You can’t trust someone 100 per cent,” Pratte-Lops is heard saying.
He mentions the pair had been dating for two years, but had recently broken up.
“We fought to live together, we fought to be together,” he said.
“I hope you’ll be happy in your miserable life. I hope we never get back together.”
Just hours later, she was found with multiple stab wounds in the basement apartment she shared with 22-year-old Anthony Pratte-Lops.
Neighbour Lauren Gagnon said around 12 p.m. Wednesday, she saw a police officer walking around the home before entering the basement.
When the officer came back out, she made a call and “many other police officers arrived.”
Gagnon said she saw Pratte-Lops being taken out in handcuffs shortly after, with the body following on a stretcher.
He faces a count of first-degree murder.
“Usually, there are two police women or men that escort the victim and in this case I don’t know what happened,” said Melpa Kamateros, executive director of Shield of Athena, a non-profit organization for victims of family violence.
“Something went wrong? Something went wrong.”
The investigation into what happened between the time Huard-Boudreault first called police and her killing will likely take several months.
Her friends and colleagues are anxious to know what happened because they believe if the case had been handled differently, she might still be alive.
A vigil is planned for Huard-Boudreault Saturday, April 1 at 8 p.m. at École secondaire Ozias-Leduc on 525 Jolliet Street, Mont-Saint-Hilaire.