THUNDER BAY – One year has passed since Barbara Kentner was struck by a trailer hitch hurled from a passing vehicle but more than a hundred people came together to show the attack has not been forgotten.
A crowd braved the cold Monday night at the intersection of Cameron and McKenzie streets – the very spot in the city’s east end where Kentner was hit when she was walking with her sister that night – to gather for a memorial vigil and round dance to honour her memory and support her family.
Kentner, 34, died a little more than five months later on July 4, 2017.
It was not easy for Melissa Kentner to return on the one-year anniversary to the site where she saw the metal hitch thrown from the vehicle and hit her sister.
“I just kept on watching to see where my kids were at all times and watching the vehicles, the ones that were going by,” she said. “I was worried about my kids and making sure they were with one of my family members, beside one, at all times.”
The incident sparked outrage with demands for the case to be labelled a hate crime and generated national attention as a potential example of racially motivated violence against Indigenous people in Thunder Bay.
Brayden Bushby, then 18, was originally charged with aggravated assault but it was upgraded to second-degree murder in November. The charge has not been proven in court.
Co-organizer Nichole Barkman-Lands insisted Barbara Kentner’s memory and what happened to her can’t afford to be lost.
“It was tragic and we need to remember that kind of thing exists here,” Barkman-Lands said. “We need to take spaces like this to call it out. When you do that, you bring people together.”
Fellow co-organizer Trivena Andy said it’s important for Barbara Kentner’s loved ones – many of whom were at the vigil – to know the community stands with them.
“This kind of violent action shouldn’t be forgotten. You need to let people know it’s not forgotten and we’re behind her family 100 per cent because they need all the support they can get,” Andy said.
Melissa Kentner said the family is still trying to cope with the loss.
“Her daughter cries almost every night for her mother,” she said. “It’s really hard. She’s trying to be strong and trying to let her mom go but it’s still very hard.”
Sharon Johnson, whose sister Sandra was murdered 26 years ago, was among those in attendance. Johnson organizes the annual Valentine’s Day Memorial Walk as a tribute to her sister and said public support is important.
“I know what it’s like. I know what it’s like to grieve and to carry the pain of losing a loved one,” Johnson said. “We’re stronger when we come together like this.”
Andy said the attack has made her question whether to raise her four-year old daughter in Thunder Bay.
“What I want (Monday night) to accomplish is that when a violent act like this happens, whether it’s a group of young ladies, a group of men or whatever it is, that there’s going to be people willing to stick up and fight,” Andy said.
