People are gathering Saturday evening to remember a child who was the victim of a homicide on Stoney Nakoda First Nation earlier this week.
Officers found the six-month-old dead inside a home on Wednesday as they responded to a welfare check, according to police. Family identified the victim on Saturday as Tanayah Hunter-Kootenay.
“Right now, she’s with her close, immediate family. They’re supporting her in every way they can. There are some services that were offered to her by the victim services as well.”
The vigil is about giving support to those who are grieving.
“This is a way of bringing the family, friends in the community together and to pay respect and to honour Tanayah,” House said.
“The whole community and the surrounding area, I believe, are trying to come to terms. Everybody has a lot of questions, unanswered questions. But hopefully, we’ll hear something from the RCMP.”
The RCMP’s major crimes unit has taken over the investigation.
House said Tanayah’s mom had posted videos of her “cuddly, cute little girl” laughing on Facebook.
“That really just gets to you. It breaks your heart,” House said.
“It’s really hard to watch, but those were just fun moments that the mother had with her daughter.”