Sommer Boudreau 'a very caring soul,' daughter says at candlelit vigil
'We're all very empathetic for their sorrow and their loss,' women's advocate says
About 150 people gathered in the cold at a vigil honouring the memory of Sommer Boudreau in Deep River, Ont., Monday night in the parking lot of the local library.
The 39-year-old's body was found in the evening of Dec. 11 by police. They have charged a man with second-degree murder.
Details remain scarce, but police in the town 190 kilometres west of Ottawa were conducting a wellness check at the Rutherford Avenue duplex when her body was discovered, according to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
"She was a very caring soul and had a good heart," said Tia Boudreau, Sommer's daughter.
Ashley Anokas, Tia's younger sister — who shares the same name as Sommer Boudreau's late sister — was also there.
In 2010, Sommer's 24-year-old sister Ashley Boudreau was killed by her boyfriend at an apartment in Ottawa.
"I can only imagine what the family must be experiencing at this moment. We're all very empathetic for their sorrow and their loss," said JoAnne Brooks, who leads End Violence Against Women Renfrew County — the group that organized the event.
"It's horrendous."
Lucia Valente lived next door to Sommer Boudreau and described her as "a light."
"I just wish we'd talked to her more as neighbours, and got to know her more," Valente said.
"Because it's always like, what we should have done kind of thing that comes up when something like this happens."
A table was set up with a portrait of Sommer Boudreau and three candles.
One for Sommer. One for all missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
And one for all the women killed by men in Renfrew County — 26 women since the 1950s, according to Brooks.
Epidemic declared
Last week, neighbouring Lanark County's council declared intimate partner violence an epidemic.
The council was following the first of 86 recommendations of the jury at the inquest into the murders of three women — Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam — killed by the same man on Sept. 22, 2015 in Renfrew County.
"I think it's essential that the commission that would come together to oversee the 86 recommendations be formed," Brooks said.
"Then there is follow through and follow up."
People who work to end violence against women in Renfrew County gather each Dec. 6 — the anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre — at a women's monument in Petawawa, which was established in 2012 to recognize women murdered by men in the area.
Ashley Boudreau's name is on the monument and a story submitted by her family was read aloud five days before Sommer Boudreau's death.
"It is a very personal story, but it's also political in that we know a woman in the province is being murdered every week," Brooks said.
Valente said she thinks more needs to be done to prevent future acts of violence against women.
"It's kind of crazy how prevalent this stuff is, so it's just important to know about it and to show support," she said
"More, I don't know, support for these topics. Places for people to go get help and also I guess, getting men involved in terms of mental health and stuff because really we all need to be part of the solution."
Adam Rossi, 41, is charged with second-degree murder in Boudreau's death, as well as committing an indignity to a human body.
Deep River Police and OPP have declined to say how Rossi and Sommer Boudreau knew each other, or whether the alleged murder was domestic in nature.