The mother of a man who was stabbed to death at a Winnipeg library in 2022 says she doesn’t know how to move on, as every day brings new headlines about violent crime in the city.
Tania Cayer’s son Tyree was stabbed to death at the Millennium Library in December of that year, and although the four youth suspects — who ranged in age from 14-16 at the time of the murder — were arrested and charged, Cayer says she’s lost all faith in the justice system over the ensuing years.
One of the teens involved in Tyree’s death was charged with second-degree murder, while the other three were charged with manslaughter, but Cayer said going through the court process was difficult, as she had to listen to people attempt to justify the reasons why the accused were in a situation where they would commit a homicide.
Tania Cayer holds a photo of her son, Tyree, outside of court on Tuesday, January 23, 2024. Tyree was killed in a stabbing attack at the Millennium Library in December 2022.
Josh Arason / Global News
“I’ve made a complete shift just as a human being — first and foremost as a mother,” Cayer told Global Winnipeg.
“As a mother, to deal with the feelings I have toward another mother’s children is hard enough… trying to be understanding of them being children. The youth justice system is a failure… everything is about rehabilitating and making these people better and want to be better and do better.
“(But) when they reoffend, which they do, then what happens? They still get to go back and participate in their specialized programs… I’m tired of people being coddled.”
Cayer said her life has been changed forever, and that she feels victims’ families aren’t properly understood when it comes to violent crimes like this.
Her frustrations come after a string of violent crimes in Winnipeg, many involving youth. Two weeks ago, a 17-year-old girl was arrested for a machete attack outside a high school. And last week, three youth aged 12 to 14 were arrested and charged for a random BB gun shooting in the heart of downtown Winnipeg.
Those who work with the vulnerable youth population, like Ken Dueck, the executive director of Inner City Youth Alive, say the systems are swamped.
“We worry there’s not enough programming for youth that are incarcerated. We also see when youth are released, they are often released into no support,” Dueck said.
Daniel Hidalgo, the founder of CommUNITY204, agrees.
“One of the biggest and more important things is to not put them in the same identical that led them to make the choices that they made. It’s important to identify the gaps they are experiencing and finding ways to support that,” Hidalgo said.
Hidalgo adding that wraparound supports can also contribute to a teen’s long-term success.
Meanwhile, Dueck notes that rehabilitation is a big challenge. If youth don’t face consequences, it’s hard to break the cycle.
“We have to rethink prison. We have to make it about restoration and we have to rethink the programming that we have in prison,” Dueck said.
They’re all things that Cayer is pleading for, so no other parent has to go through what she’s experiencing.
“The things that victims and their families have to go through, nobody really knows the story,” she said.
“Your loved ones try their best to support you, but your loved ones don’t know how to deal with this. I’m broken, I’m not the same person I was.
“I go to work and I crawl back in a hole. That’s where I exist. I don’t know how to get past this. I’ve tried, I’ve lost jobs over it. I don’t know how to move forward in life.”
