'I knew something happened': Family of boy killed by alleged drunk driver want to forgive
Keethan Lobster, 11, Mattheo Moore-Spence, 11, and Terrence Spence, 13, died Saturday in Nelson House crash
The last time Malcolm Moore talked to his stepson, Mattheo Moore-Spence had just polished off dinner and was heading out to play with his cousin and their friends.
It was Saturday evening and the two had spent the day duck hunting together, Moore said. Mattheo, 11, loved hunting, camping and fishing, and had been asking that morning when they'd get to go pick traditional plant medicines again.
"We got back, I cooked some moose meat for him and some soup. He finished his soup and he said, 'Good soup, Dad,'" Moore remembered Tuesday afternoon.
"He said, 'I'm going to go play now.' I didn't see him again after that."
Mattheo, his older cousin Terrance Spence, 13, and their friend Keethan Lobster, 11, died Saturday evening after they were hit by a vehicle while walking and riding their bikes along a main road in Nelson House, Man.
RCMP believe the vehicle's driver was drunk.
A 27-year-old from the community, Todd Norman Linklater, faces nine charges in connection with the crash, including three counts of impaired driving causing death. The charges haven't been proven in court.
Moore and Mattheo's biological father, Anthony Spence, both said they want to forgive Linklater.
"At first, I felt angry. Then I remembered my parents — my mother and father always taught me about forgiveness," Moore said.
"I thought about that young man. He must be hurting.… We want him to know we forgive him. We care about him."
Since the crash, the community has banned alcohol out of respect for the three boys.
"I used to be a drinker," Moore said. "I probably hurt people, too, in my past."
Marcel Moody, chief of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Nelson House, said forgiveness is an important part of healing for the whole community.
"That's a positive message from those families and I really, really appreciate them reaching out to this family," he said.
"We want to move on as a community, as one community, and we don't want to be divided any further."
Sense of humour, passion for fast cars
Spence remembers his son as a jokester with a lot of friends and a passion for fast cars.
"He liked vehicles, that kid. He was fascinated with fast cars. If somebody was driving slow, he'd say, 'Let my dad drive, he drives fast,'" Spence said with a laugh.
"Not vans or trucks, it was just straight cars.… Fascinated him."
Moore also remembered Mattheo's sense of humour and how he loved to be outside.
"He could put up a really good argument," he said. "He liked to joke around. He had lots of uncles, aunties. He called everybody not by their name, but he'd joke around, give them a different name."
He figured the 11-year-old had headed to a nearby sandpit to play with his cousin and their friends Saturday evening. When he wasn't home a few hours later, Moore went looking for him along a main road in the community.
"I went to go check it out and I saw an ambulance and the RCMP over there, and I wasn't allowed to go over there," Moore said. "I stayed on the highway there, waiting for him to come biking out.
"I stopped the RCMP and I asked them if they could tell me if Mattheo's OK. They said they couldn't release that information," Moore continued, his voice breaking. "I knew something happened."
When he went to identify the boy's body, Moore said he felt as if his heart was about to stop. He's had trouble sleeping since.
With files from Erin Brohman and Cameron MacIntosh