The Winnipeg Sun n Wednesday, november 16, 2011

NEWS

Grieving kin forgotten

Tamara KING Winnipeg Sun
What is sometimes overlooked in Winnipegs record year in homicides is that the number now at 35 and counting represents a tragic toll, a life thats been lost, leaving heartbroken loved ones behind with only memories. Few know this better than Holly Kolevris, a court support worker with the Manitoba Organization for Victim Assistance, or MOVA. Not only does she work with the families of homicide victims, Kolevris nephew, T.J. Wiebe, was killed in 2003. He was only 20.

too much death

Looking beyond homicide statistics

This is devastating and all of us are suffering.

Now I can relate

I used to have the same opinion when I read the people involved were drug dealers and say, oh good, another one is off the street, said Kolevris. Now I can relate. Every one of these murder statistics has a family. You have to see behind the headline. David Vincett made mistakes and may not have been

an angel, but he didnt deserve angel, but he wasnt a devil to die, suggests the mother of either. He was a good kid. the 20-year-old man fatally A 14-year-old with ties to shot earlier this fall. the Indian Posse is charged Vincett, 20, may have been with first-degree murder. killed because he claimed to Mohamed Ali Omar was a be in a street gang beloved father of a claim that appears four young children to be false. His famand a hard-working ily said he was never husband, caught in a gang and police by mistake when have no record of a gunman struck such affiliations. outside a McPhilAround 4:20 a.m. lips Street hotel, his ahmed omar family says. on S ept. 25, Vin cett crossed paths Omar, 28, came o n B o y d Av e n u e w i t h a to Canada in 1993 from war14-year-old boy and the pair torn Somalia. He grew up in exchanged words over alleged the West End, graduated from gang ties. Vincett was shot in Daniel McIntyre Collegiate, and the face and left to die. worked in housekeeping at St. Vincett was a young man Boniface General Hospital. who was often misunderstood, On Oct. 30 around 4:30 his mother, Linda Kozlowski, a.m., Omar and a group were said in a recent interview. in a vehicle just about to head Big imagination. Helped home from the Lincoln Motor everybody that asked for help. Hotel when someone pulled Picked the wrong friends. up in an SUV and started firMade his mistakes and paid ing. Omar and a second vicfor them, she said, her face tim, a 17-year-old boy, were grim, adding: He wasnt an shot. The teen survived. Omar

winnipeg sun files

winnipeg sun files

Omar was killed outside the Lincoln Motor Hotel.

did not. This is devastating and all of us are suffering. He was a beloved father, says Ahmed Omar.

Murder victim David Michael Vincett is seen here with Jennifer Kraynyk and their daughter Heather Kraynyk.
Why somebody (would) shoot him, I dont know. No arrests have been made. Police suggested the shooting could be gang-related, although declined to give details other than saying both the 17-year-old and Omar had associations to a local street gang something Omars family vehemently disputes.
tamara.king@sunmedia.ca

Has no enemies
His family suspects someone else not Mohamed may have been the intended target. This man was in the wrong place at the wrong time, says Ahmed. He has no enemies.

worst year for winnipeg

Go online to see a map and timeline of the slayings and photos of the victims.

winnipegsun.com/victims

Murder suspects have their own gritty tales to tell

JamES TurNEr Winnipeg Sun
From mere kids to the elderly, those suspected in this years homicides hail from all backgrounds and walks of life. W hat f o l l ow s a re b r i e f sketches of a few who police arrested. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty. n Lulonda Lynn Flett, 40, faces five counts of seconddegree murder and attempted m u rd e r c h a r g e s i n c o n nection to a July 16 rooming house fire in North Point Douglas. Three days before the blaze, Flett pleaded guilty to assaulting her sister-in-law and was set free on probation with a condition to avoid her. Court documents, however, allege the relative is one of the attempted murder victims who escaped the fatal blaze. Flett, who hails from Norway House, has no other criminal convictions. Her next court date is Nov. 25. n Thomas Brine, 26, is accused of killing Elizabeth Lafantaisie, a 73-year-old great-grandmother found stuffed in the trunk of her own car after being reported missing. Court records show Brine has prior convictions stretching back over the last six years and was wanted on warrants at the time he was arrested for first-degree murder in March. His next court date is Dec. 15. n A male youth, 14, remains in custody charged with firstdegree murder related to the death of David Michael Vincett in September an incident police have linked to a dispute between the MOB and Indian Posse street gangs. The teen was out on probation at the time of the shooting after being convicted of firing a sawed-off shotgun in the direction of a Canada Post carrier last November. Despite his young age, the boy had several other prior convictions as well. His next court date is Nov. 23. n Max Maurice Richard, 36, is suspected of killing April Helen Hornbrook, a 24-yearold mom whose body was found on a dirt path next to the Yellow Warehouse building on Aug. 26. Richard was picked up on robbery and assault charges Sept. 7, but not arrested as a suspect in Hornbrooks murder until Sept. 30. Richard, who has twice served stints in federal prison, came from a chaotic background and struggled with substanceabuse issues, the Parole Board of Canada says. Hell next be in court Nov. 21.
james.turner@sunmedia.ca