Family of mother killed in collision holds candlelight vigil to honour loved one

Family members and friends of a pedestrian killed in a collision this week honoured their loved one with a candlelight vigil near the scene of the crash on Tuesday evening. 

More than 40 people gathered around a traffic sign at the intersection of Notre Dame Avenue and McPhillips Street in Winnipeg to remember Loretta Morrine Green, who was hit by a vehicle shortly after midnight on Monday. 

The 32-year-old mother of six was taken to hospital in unstable condition, where she later died. 

"I feel like my heart just got ripped out of my chest. It hurts. No parent should ever go through what I'm going through," Green's mother Diane Thomas said during the vigil. 

"Love your children, no matter what they're going through, love them," Thomas said. 

At the vigil, a woman walked around holding an abalone shell with sage burning inside and invited friends and relatives to smudge.

Others placed bouquets of flowers, multiple strands of braided sweetgrass,  bundles of sage and candles near a poster with photos of Green on the sidewalk. 

Another woman tied blue and yellow pieces of cloth to different traffic posts as people sang traditional Indigenous songs to the sound of drumming. 

"I just want people to know that she loved them," Thomas said, while wiping tears from her face.

"I want them to know that she had a beautiful heart."

Thomas said her daughter loved to spend time with her family and cared about everybody she met. She loved her children and often joked with her older sister Samantha, who was also at the vigil. 

"There was no ounce of violence in her. She was always happy," Green's stepfather Louie Pelletier said, as he held a poster showing photos of Green. 

Pelletier said his stepdaughter was very kind and she would do anything for her children. 

Thomas knelt on the sidewalk and placed tobacco and flowers near the post. Shortly after, a young girl wearing a gold paper crown spread a handful of pink flower petals on the ground, including one in Thomas's hair. 

Police previously said the driver of the vehicle involved in the collision stayed at the scene and spoke to officers.

The investigation into the collision is ongoing and no charges had been laid as of Monday, police said.