Mother of Jannai Dopwell-Bailey wishes she said 'I love you' one last time
Montreal teen died after being stabbed outside his school
The mother of a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed to death outside his school in October has a message for those attending a march in his name.
"I would like to tell everyone to look out for the youth, for the children. Make sure you tell your children you love them," Charla Dopwell told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.
"I wish I had done that in the morning, the last day I saw my son."
Jannai Dopwell-Bailey was a student at the Mile End high school program in Côte-des-Neiges, located in the basement of another school, Coronation Elementary.
According to police, there was a fight outside of the school, and Jannai was stabbed in the upper body. He went into the school to seek help and was rushed to hospital, where he later died. Two suspects have been charged with second-degree murder.
Dopwell, who works in health care, said she often left early in the morning, before her son woke up.
But the day of his death, Jannai met her as she was leaving, to say he was already dressed for school.
"And I said to him, 'Jannai, go back to your bed, go back to your bed. When I reach work, I will call and wake you up.' And that's it. And then he went back to bed," she said. "But I didn't say 'I love you,' and I didn't kiss him, and hug him."
It was the last time she saw Jannai.
"He always hugged me and kissed me and hugged me and kissed me, and I miss that," she said. "I miss it. I miss it. I miss my son so much."
Dopwell met with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante Thursday to talk about her son's death. Dopwell said she preferred to keep the meeting private, but said they discussed how few services exist for young people in the borough.
"There's no place for them to go. There's no basketball for them to play. There's no place for them to play music," she said.
"The youths are just out there. And if you find things for them to do, you know, it might lessen the crime."
The meeting with Plante came after criticism that politicians were ignoring the case due to Dopwell-Bailey's race.
Both Plante and Quebec Premier François Legault attended a makeshift memorial that was set up for Thomas Trudel, a white teenager who was shot and killed in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighbourhood in November.
Neither of them appeared for initial memorials for Jannai.
Dopwell declined to speak about the subject, but said she sends her condolences to Trudel's parents, and those of Meriem Boundaoui, the 15-year-old killed in a drive-by shooting in Saint-Léonard in February.
"I know what they're going through," Dopwell said. "I go to my son's room every morning and I pray, and I would put the parents in my prayer and the [children] in my prayer."
A march will take place Saturday to commemorate Jannai's life, with attendees gathering at Programme Mile End on Van Horne Avenue at 2 p.m. The march will then move to Kent Park, where blue balloons will be released in remembrance.
Dopwell said she wants people to know that her son was "peaceful, loving, kind and sharing."
"He is just a good person. And I would like people to turn out [to the march], but I don't know how it's going to be. I really don't know," she said. "I'm hoping for the best."
She said in times of crisis, the community has to come together.
"We help each other, and we must love our children with our hearts and soul," she said.
"And always tell our children we love them."
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
