‘I have so many questions’: Family of boy killed at LRT station say police provided conflicting information

The family of a teen who was killed at an Edmonton LRT station last week wants answers from police. Nahreman Issa explains.

The family of a teenage boy killed in an altercation at an Edmonton LRT station last week say police gave them different information about what happened than what was released to the public.

Eric Omeasoo, 13, was fatally stabbed on Feb. 5 at MacEwan LRT station at 105 Avenue and 104 Street shortly before midnight.

Police say Omeasoo was with a Destynd Jackson, 18, a 15-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy when the group reportedly assaulted a 32-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man who were not known to them.

The teens have all been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and possession of an offensive weapon dangerous to the public.

Police have not said if anyone was charged in Omeasoo’s death.

Omeasoo’s grandmother Rhonda Spence says a homicide detective told her on Friday that the two groups knew each other and the two adults were carrying weapons.

She also says she was told EMS was not called for her grandson.

“He said EMS was not called and I said, ‘So my grandson just laid there alone to die?’ Then he said that, ‘If this is any consolation to you, it was fast and he didn’t suffer.’”

She said later the same detective told her an ambulance was called.

“Oh, sorry I gave you misleading information. There was EMS called.”

Spence said Omeasoo was supposed to be spending the night with his great grandmother but left her house to meet a friend at the LRT station to get back a sweater.

She said she doesn’t know who the other teens in the group at the station were and she doesn’t know if Omeasoo knew them either.

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The family is left to grapple with a lot of questions as they grieve for a boy they remember as funny, caring and a sports fanatic who loved hockey and basketball.

“He loved the Edmonton Oilers. When they were in the playoffs we were always down there, just all decked out in our gear and face painted everything,” Spence remembered, adding she’s had an outpouring of support from the community.

“Heartwarming messages from the schools he attended, his elementary school, his junior high school, the Boys and Girls Club, the Big Brothers Big Sisters, the neighbourhood of Riverdale, the Riverdale Community Centre.”

“They all were sharing memories of how Eric had a heart of gold.”

“The media release from the police is just harmful. It’s just so ambiguous and it has just left to open, like so much room for interpretation, and people just fill in all these narratives,” Omeasoo’s aunt, Chasity Phillips, said. “We’ve had cruel, cruel things said about Eric and messages to our family as well.”

Spence is still waiting to find out if any charges will be laid in her grandson’s death.

“It’s pretty near a week that my grandson was murdered. Why are no charges laid?” she asked.

“I have so many questions.”

CTV News Edmonton has reached out to the Edmonton Police Service for information about Spence’s claims and whether or not additional charges will be laid.

A spokesperson for EPS said there were “no updates planned for today” and did not provide any additional information.

Omeasoo, who played on his school’s basketball team, will be remembered by his classmates at their upcoming game on Wednesday.

His teammates plan to sign his jersey and present it to the family.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa.