Nineteen-year-old Naseb Fazil continues to make his family laugh and smile more than a week after his passing.
His recorded voice lives on inside a custom-made teddy bear, stylishly dressed just like him, asking his mother where the garbage bags are, and laughing about memes exchanged with his younger sister.
“Everybody (was) happy from him. He was such a nice boy,” his father Nazir Fazil told Global News on Tuesday, tears streaming down his face.
“Somebody talk with him, the first answer was laughing and smiling.”
Naseb was fatally stabbed during a fight outside the Gallery Vancouver nightclub on May 23.
His family believes he was innocent, jumping in to help the injured, but Vancouver police would not confirm that. A 24-year-old has been arrested in connection with the case.
Naseb was a beloved brother and son, and a graduate of Burnaby Central Secondary School. He wrestled, played several team sports, and had just started a new job while taking business studies.
He was deeply loved at his local mosque, said his father, whose nickname for him in Arabic was “soft,” for his beauty, his soft skin and gentle demeanour.
“He was such a pure-hearted person,” said his sister Muzhda Fazil, who still attends Burnaby Central Secondary School. “When we’d get into annoying sibling arguments, I couldn’t even raise my voice properly.”
The family came to Canada from Afghanistan as refugees 10 years ago, seeking safety from the Taliban. They chose Canada because it was the safest place they could think of — “more humanity, more peace,” Nazir described.
“It ruined my life. It broke my hopes,” said Naseer Fazil, Naseb’s 21-year-old brother. “Until my brother passed away, I was thinking Canada is a safe country.”
Naseer said he can no longer look at his closet, because he and Naseb shared the same clothes.
“I lost my brother. For who?” he asked. “It’s obvious these people are lifeless.”
The family said they want justice for Naseb and for all families who have lost loved ones to violent crime in the city. They are sick, they added, from hearing about “death after death after death” in Vancouver.
“For me, my blood will get cool when we get the right justice,” said Naseer, who works as a bouncer.
“I am waiting for justice, and then I was blame to myself, I was right or wrong to bring my kids here?” added his father.
Charges have not yet been laid in the case, but police said Tuesday the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about Naseb’s death is asked to call VPD’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2500.