Carmelita and Brent Hallett were together for 28 years and planned to have much longer together.
At the height of the COVID pandemic, 18 months ago, the couple decided life was “too short” to simply let it pass them by. So they took early retirement and set out on a trip around the world.
Their last stop on the trip — an extended stay of several months in Las Vegas, Nevada — was where the Hallett’s were married back in 1999 and a place they wanted to spend a little more time in.
On Oct. 6, 15 days before the Hallett’s were set to return to central Alberta, Brent Hallett was stabbed to death in an attack that took mere seconds.
“He just turned to me and said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to make it,’” said Hallett’s wife Carmelita.
Hallett was one of eight people stabbed in what police in Las Vegas say appears to be an attack targeting showgirls.
Yoni Barios, 32, is charged with two counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder.
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“The chances of this happening to anyone are just unbelievable,” said Carmelita Hallett’s aunt Andrea Benoit who flew to Las Vegas to support her niece.
Benoit returned to her home in Airdrie on Oct. 10 and shared some of Hallett’s qualities.
“He’d make you laugh over the silliest thing. Brent was a great soul and a great spirit,” she said. “He brought laughter and fun times to a lot of people.”
Hallett was a businessman and spent most of his time in the Edmonton central Alberta regions.
He loved three things above all else according to those who knew him: his wife, his family and animals.
“He loved all animals and loved donkeys and rabbits and just different kinds of animals,” said Benoit.
Police in Las Vegas has yet to reveal a motive for the attack.
As the family waits for answers, they want to turn the spotlight away from the suspect and toward the kind of man Brent Hallett was.
The family is starting an animal rescue charity in his honour that will bear Brent Hallett’s name.
Carmelita said she doesn’t need assistance financially but invites those who would like to honour Brent, to donate to a GoFundMe in her husband’s name. All funds raised will be donated on behalf of Hallett to assist with animal rescue and animal welfare efforts. Since rabbits were Hallett’s favourite, these funds will go specifically to bunny welfare.
It’s his family’s way is celebrating Hallett’ love of life and his passion for animals, and a way they say his name can live on.
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