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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Victim of random stabbing had 'big heart'

By: Katherine Dow

Posted: 07/24/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Family photo Cherie Richard, 20, was fatally stabbed Sunday.

FRIENDS and family of Cherie Lynn Richard, the 20-year-old who was stabbed to death early Sunday on Furby Street, remember the victim as a shy, caring tomboy.

They said she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"She wasn't involved in drugs or gangs. She wasn't like that. She was just a good girl," said Donna Richard, Cherie's cousin.

"She had such a big heart and would do whatever for people, anything really. When I heard the news, I just thought, 'This can't be Cherie. She stays out of trouble.' It wasn't her fault. She didn't do (anything) to deserve it," Donna Richard said.

Her sister, Shaylene Richard, who was with Cherie when she was attacked, said her sister was a tomboy who was working toward graduating from high school at St. Norbert Collegiate.

Shaylene Richard said she and her sister had been in and out of group homes for many years. The two moved to the West End together when Shaylene turned 18.

"She loved my kids. She was a good aunt to them. They were like her babies," she said. "We were always close our whole lives. I took care of her. She was my baby sister."

Shaylene Richard said she and Cherie were standing with their bikes on Furby Street at around 5 a.m. Sunday when a man ran out of an apartment building and stabbed Cherie in the stomach.

"I had started riding my bike away when I heard her yell. She said, 'I got stabbed, I got stabbed,' and I ran back and held her," she said.

They didn't know the assailant and the attack was random, she added.

"He ran away right away. She was lying on the ground bleeding. She just kept saying, 'Shaylene, Shaylene, Shaylene,' over and over again. That's all she said. She was gripping my arm," she added.

"A guy, I think a neighbour, ran out and took off his shirt to try and stop her from bleeding and (he) started pumping on her chest. But he said it was too late."

The police arrived minutes later followed by paramedics.

Cherie was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition and was later pronounced dead.

Police said the investigation revealed Cherie and her sister were approached by a man and two women. Police said an argument ensued and Cherie Richard was stabbed.

Her death is the city's 19th homicide of 2012.

Police blocked off a large stretch of Furby Street for hours following the incident. Two bikes were on the ground inside an area homicide investigators searched for clues.

"I'm just telling myself she didn't suffer much and she's in a better place," Shaylene Richard said.

Winnipeg police asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (204) 786-8477.

katherine.dow@freepress.mb.ca

Winnipeg homicides, 2012

This map shows the locations of homicides in Winnipeg in 2012.

Red icons show unsolved cases, while green icons show cases considered solved.

Use the controls at left to zoom in and out on the map, and click and drag to move around the map. Click on any icon for more details on the case.

Interactive map by Wendy Sawatzky

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 24, 2012 A3

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