After the verdict was delivered, people in the crowd burst into tears and gasps of disbelief were heard from members of the teen girl's family and supporters. Her biological mother, Valentina Duck, swore at Cormier before walking out of the courtroom.
"F--k you if you think you can get away with this," Duck said.
As Cormier was led out of the court room, Tina's great-aunt, Thelma Favel, also yelled at him.
WINNIPEG—A 24-hour safe space for youth is being dedicated to the memory of a 15-year-old Manitoba Indigenous girl whose body was found in the Red River.
Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott announced almost $350,000 in funding Tuesday to expand the program at Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre in Winnipeg.
Tina’s great-aunt, Thelma Favel, said the family worked with local organizations and the federal government to get the funding in her honour.
“It was Tina’s dream to work with children and that’s why we decided a safe haven would be good in her honour,” Favel said.
The school where Tina Fontaine spent much of her youth has memorialized her with a mural, four years after the 15-year-old was found dead in the Red River in Winnipeg.
The painting in a hallway at Powerview School shows Fontaine standing in a long red dress. She's surrounded by a golden glow, with a lakeshore and a flock of birds in flight at her side.
Larry Sharpe, the vice-principal of the school, said the mural, by Indigenous artist Shawna Grapentine, was a way to honour the teen, a member of nearby Sagkeeng First Nation, and all other missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Beautiful, what a wonderful idea!
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