A blue balloon in hand, several dozen citizens gathered on Saturday in front of Coronation School, in the Côte-des-Neiges area, where 16-year-old Jannai Dopwell-Bailey died after being stabbed last October.
Snow was falling gently on the cuddly toys, flowers and candles that were placed on the ground in memory of Jannai. The teenager’s family and friends then walked to Martin-Luther King Park, to pay their last respects to the teenager.
“I sent my son to school, and he never came back. And I have to deal with that every morning when I wake up and look at her room, ”said the teenager’s mother, Charla Dopwell, with emotion. ” I miss him. I sleep, I eat, I breathe and I think about Jannai, ”she added.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, PRESS ARCHIVES
A candlelight vigil to honor Jannai Dopwell-Bailey was held on October 22.
At the time of Jannai’s funeral, the teenager’s family lamented not having received the same attention from the political class as the family of Thomas Trudel, a young man of 16 who was shot dead in November in the neighborhood. of Saint-Michel.
Mme Dopwell said Sunday to have received a visit from the mayoress of Montreal. “The meeting went well,” she said, saying she did not want to comment on this aspect further.
“All teens, we just want the violence to stop,” Jannai’s brother Tyrese Dopwell-Bailey pleaded. He believes that different leisure programs should be put in place in the community, to prevent young people from using violence.
Tyrese recalls that one of Jannai’s last wishes, who was passionate about rap music, was to take piano lessons. ” He likes music. He always loved music, and dancing. I’m sure he would have been an actor at some point, he was very good, ”Tyrese said.
On October 18, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey was stabbed outside Coronation School at the intersection of Victoria and Van Horne avenues, where he was studying in the Mile End Program, for dropout students. An altercation took place between young people aged 16 to 18 before the tragedy. Jannai was pronounced dead in hospital.
In the aftermath of the murder, videos were posted on social media, showing hooded youths with knives ridiculing the teenager’s death.
According to information obtained by Press, a conflict between two cliques, that is to say the OXB (Oxford Block) of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and the 160 of Côte-des-Neiges, would be at the origin of the tragedy.
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with this case, including a 16-year-old. He is being held because he has waived his release investigation. The second suspect, Andrei Donet, 18, was arrested on November 26. A third individual who could be involved in this homicide is still wanted by the police.
This murder is part of the outbreak of violence taking place in the streets of Montreal. Last Thursday, 20-year-old Hani Ouahdi succumbed to his injuries after being shot in the Anjou sector. In February, 15-year-old Meriem Boundaoui similarly died in the Saint-Léonard sector.
With Mayssa Ferah, Press