Tanya Brooks remembered 5 years after unsolved murder

A group marched on Halifax's Gottingen Street Friday afternoon to mark the fifth anniversary of Tanya Brooks’s unsolved murder and to call for an end to violence against aboriginal women.

The police investigation has led to no arrests or charges five years after her death. Brooks’s body was found on the afternoon of May 11, 2009, in a trench along the west side of St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School.

Family friend Dorene Bernard led prayers for Brooks's family and friends, and for the more than 1,000 missing or murdered aboriginal women in Canada. Brooks was a Mi'kmaw woman. 

"We come together today to honour and remember our sister in spirit," she said.

There will be a candlelight vigil Saturday in Millbrook, where Brooks grew up. It begins at 6 p.m. at the seniors’ centre.

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Halifax Regional Police Deputy Chief Bill Moore says investigators believe there are people who know what happened to Brooks and he urged them to come forward.

"My message to the family is that we will continue to investigate this and hope to bring you justice and healing," he said.