Hundreds of mourners gathered Tuesday night for a vigil honouring the life of a toddler whose body was found near an Edmonton church last week.
A passerby found 19-month-old Anthony Raine’s body outside the Good Shepherd Anglican Church last Friday. Police said the boy had bruises all over his body and died from head trauma.
The boy’s father, Joey Crier, 26, and his father’s girlfriend, Tasha Mack, 25, were later arrested and charged with second-degree murder, criminal negligence causing death, failing to provide necessities of life, and assault. Crier is also charged with assault causing bodily harm.
Since the tragic discovery, community members have dropped off flowers, teddy bears and candles where the boy’s body was found.
“Just to be here with the community and to heal as a community…I think is important,” vigil attendee Karen Neff told CTV Edmonton ahead of the gathering.
The Good Shepherd Church organized the public vigil service, inviting members of all faiths to gather to grieve.
"We all know a toddler should have more opportunity for life, for experiencing joy and pleasure, to be given a chance to flourish, to run and jump and play," dean Neil Gordon told those in attendance. "To find out what it's like to eat too much candy or pig out on too much pizza, to have his first day at school, his first sleepover, his first scraped knee, his first kiss. And it is such a waste. So much potential lost."
The two-hour vigil officially began at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Members of the Louis Bull First Nation near Maskwacis, Alta.—where the boy’s biological mother, Dalyce Raine, lives—also held a wake.
Crier and Mach made brief court appearances on Monday. Their cases have been put over to May 8 in order to provide time for them to seek legal counsel.
With files from CTV Edmonton and The Canadian Press
