The family of a 48-year-old man who was found dead at a south Edmonton home on Christmas Day says they don’t want him to be remembered as just another statistic.
“He was a good person. I don’t want him to be known as Edmonton’s 42nd homicide, a number. I want him to be known as a father, a brother, a friend, an uncle,” Joy Melenka told Global News on Thursday.
Joy’s younger brother Ed Melenka was found dead at around 3:30 a.m. on Christmas morning inside a house in the area of 73 Avenue and 77 Street. Police responded to a “call for assistance” at the home, where they found the man’s body.
Melenka’s death has been ruled a homicide. Police did not release his name but said Thursday the victim died of a stab wound.
Melenka’s stepson Stephan Hendrick Kody, 22, is charged with second-degree murder and possession of an offensive weapon.
READ MORE: Edmonton police lay murder charge in Christmas Day homicide
Melenka’s daughter, Janelle Melenka, said she received a call at around 4 a.m. on Christmas morning saying she needed to go to the hospital. She was greeted by a nurse and a police officer, who informed her of her dad’s death.
“I had just seen him hours before that at Christmas dinner at his house and I told him I was going to see him again tomorrow morning because we were going to go to my auntie Joy’s for dinner,” Janelle said.
“Now that he’s gone I feel like half of me is missing.”
Janelle said Kody was at dinner on Christmas Eve. Joy said she’s known Kody for about 11 years and called him “a nice boy.”
“We never expected that would happen to my brother,” Joy said. “He loved us and we loved him. My brother didn’t deserve to die that way.”
Melenka loved to fix cars and ride quads and snowmobiles, his family said. He worked as a scaffolder and enjoyed camping and spending time at the lake. Janelle said her dad was always there for her and her 13-year-old brother.
“He was so generous and he loved to make sure everyone around him was happy,” Janelle said.
“He was always the life of the party. Wherever he was, he lit up the room. He made me feel like there was nothing I would do that I would fail at.”
Kyle MacDonald lives next door and has known the family for years. MacDonald went to kindergarten with Kody but said they weren’t close.
“For the most part, he was just a normal kid. I knew he had some issues and I knew that Ed and Stephan didn’t always see eye to eye,” MacDonald told Global News on Thursday.
“Sometimes you’d hear some screaming and whatnot, lots of hollering and fights.”
MacDonald said he last saw Melenka on Christmas Eve, when he came over to wish his family a Merry Christmas.
“He came and dropped off a bottle of wine for the family,” MacDonald said. “He was a good neighbour. He was always willing to help out… He would let you borrow a car. If you weren’t there for the holidays, he would shovel your snow.”
The Edmonton Police Service said the man’s death on Christmas Day marks the city’s 42nd homicide of 2017.
Melenka’s family has planned his funeral for Jan. 2.
With files from Sarah Kraus, Global News.