22°c Partly cloudy
18°c Cloudy periods
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
'Sweet, bubbly' woman mourned after fatal attack
Kaila Tran
Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press Kaila Tran was attacked near a car in the 100 block of Clayton Drive Wednesday.
A woman who died after being stabbed in a St. Vital parking lot Wednesday morning would "light up an entire room the second she walked in," a friend said.
The woman, identified by friends as Kaila Tran, 26, died after she was attacked in the 100 block of Clayton Drive. Police didn't confirm her identity.
"Anyone that's come across her knew how great of a person she was. She was energetic, positive," said a friend who worked with Tran for three years, via Twitter.
"She was like family," another friend told the Free Press. "She was a bubbly person, great person. She was everything you could ask for in a friend."
Tran worked for Teleco, according to the company's website.
Police received a call just after 7 a.m. about an injured person. Witnesses said neighbours heard the woman screaming, rushed to intervene and scared off the attacker.
Lois Coish, who's lived in the building opposite for 17 years, was standing outside when she heard the woman yell, "Leave me alone!" and then begin to scream.
"I thought he was hitting her. I didn't see a knife," Coish said.
Another neighbour, who lived in the same building as the woman and asked not to be identified, said he heard the woman's screams and rushed to the window. He saw the woman, who had apparently been getting into her car to go to work, on the ground with a man standing over her, stabbing her. As neighbours rushed from the building, the suspect ran off, the neighbour said.
Four or five people ran from the woman's building and others came from a building across the street. A neighbour got on a bike and chased the suspect as he ran along Clayton Drive, before deking toward the river and over an embankment. The cyclist was unable to follow.
At one point, the fleeing man dropped something and turned back to pick it up, said witness Kevin Olivier.
Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said he wasn't aware if a weapon had been found. Police did not call Tran's death a homicide, instead treating it as suspicious.
Michalyshen had no word on any arrests. He said officers were trying to gather as much information at the scene as possible.
"I don't have enough details really to say, 'Yes, this was a manhunt,' " said Michalyshen. The police helicopter wasn't used in the case, he said.
As the man fled, neighbours performed first aid on the woman who had a cut hand, a stab wound to her shoulder near her neck and damage to her teeth. The woman was struggling to breathe and unable to talk, a witness said.
Olivier said the woman lived with her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's mother lives in a building across the street.
"It's all a little startling," a witness told the Free Press.
Friends wrote on her Facebook page, calling her a "loving and giving soul" and "one of the sweetest people I have ever had the honour of knowing out of this world."
Her sister posted pictures on Facebook with the words, "The invisible ties between sisters are the strongest bonds... forever missed but never forgotten."
-- with files from Jenny Ford
gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca julie.carl@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 21, 2012 A5
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
More Local
(1 of 33 articles for today)
Forest fire situation unpredictable, premier says
7:04 PM 0Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger insists it’s too early and unpredictable to be optimistic about forest fire season in the province ...
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Mountie hospitalized, dog euthanized after crash near Saskatoon
- Province blows off wind megawatt goal
- City-wide average mosquito count drops
- Committee wants report on free replacement for garbage, recycling carts
- Pallister continues PST fight
- MP Glover files new version of disputed 2011 election expenses
- Known as kind, outgoing men
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Poolside feeding prompts eviction
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Stoppage of play off the field
- Game-day planning a must
- No mad dash for concessions
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Kenyan wins Manitoba Marathon
- Father blasts 'horrific' movie
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Car in deadly crash stolen?
- UPDATE: Now with FAQ: Keeping the e-party going without the party-crashers
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Daycare provider charged with abandonment
- Poolside feeding prompts eviction
- Two people killed in crash north of Winnipeg
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- Province blows off wind megawatt goal
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Strong may they run: Manitobans reflect on that fateful day in Boston
- Bible Belt's bogeyman still haunts town
- Mountie hospitalized, dog euthanized after crash near Saskatoon
- City-wide average mosquito count drops
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Province's new approach to teaching math long overdue: readers
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Doctors blamed for death
- App could give Winnipeggers chance to report bad parking, get paid
- $110-K worth of nickel plates stolen from Thompson mine
- A day in the life of 13,380 Manitoba Marathon participants
- Known as kind, outgoing men
- Stoppage of play off the field
- Bomber fans wowed by new stadium
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Father blasts 'horrific' movie
- Teachers support adding sexual-orientation themes to all curricula
- The crime fighter's revolution
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Car in deadly crash stolen?
- Fishing for fashion
- City's first urban reserve born
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
Have Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscribers only. why?
Login SubscribeHave Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press Subscribers only. why?
SubscribeThe Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.