The parents of a murder victim said it’s been tough listening to court testimony detailing the last hours of their son’s life.
Waylon Jackson was stabbed to death in a Kelowna home two years ago.
“It’s been hard. It’s been really hard. I’ve had to run out of court and cry,” Christine Whiskeyjack, Jackson’s mother, said.
“March 11, 2016, is when a part of me died.”
Whiskeyjack remembers Jackson as a generous person, a hard worker and a good cook.
“He liked spending time with family. He was a family-orientated person, and he was loved by many,” she said.
“We’ll continue living, remembering Waylon, but it’ll be hard to forget what he left behind,” the victim’s father, Percy Jackson, said.
The new dad left behind now two-year old Aniah Skye, a daughter he knew for just a month.
“I see so much of my late son in my granddaughter, and it’s like raising him all over again,” Whiskeyjack said, adding that she’s now taking care of Aniah.
The family lives in Alberta, but said there was no question they would travel to Kelowna to watch the trial.
“Because I need justice, because I need closure, because I wanted to see the individual,” Whiskeyjack said.
Chad Alphonse is on trial for second-degree murder in Jackson’s death.
The jury has listened to nearly two weeks of testimony. On Wednesday, it will hear closing arguments.
“We hope we can get justice for our Waylon, my Waylon. He was a strong person. He is missed,” Whiskeyjack said.