‘He tried his best to be a good dad’: former partner of Langside mass shooting victim

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This article was published 30/11/2023 (703 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Children of a Winnipeg man who was among four people killed in a mass shooting are reeling from his death, while police continue to search for at least one suspect.

Dylan Lavallee, 41, and four other victims were shot at a multi-suite home on Langside Street shortly after 4 a.m. Nov. 26.

“He loved his kids so much. They made him happy,” Lavallee’s former partner, who asked not to be named, said Thursday.

The former couple began dating in their teens and had six children — three boys and three girls — together.

“They’re shocked,” the woman said of the children, including 12-year-old twins. “He tried his best to be a good dad and show them how to do things when they were little.”

Sisters Crystal Beardy, 34, and Stephanie Beardy, 33, and 29-year-old Melelek Leseri Lesikel were also killed in the shooting in the city’s West Broadway neighbourhood.

A 55-year-old man was also shot. He remained in critical condition in hospital, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said Thursday.

No one has yet been arrested, she added.

The WPS hasn’t revealed what led to the quadruple homicide nor has it confirmed how many suspects are being sought.

“This shouldn’t have happened to anybody, regardless of how they lived their life,” said Lavallee’s former partner. “This is very hard. It’s a big shock to everyone.”

At a news conference Monday, WPS Chief Danny Smyth’s comments suggested police believe there is no wider threat to public safety. He told reporters there was nothing to suggest the shooting was an “ongoing event” and the suspect or suspects had “gone to ground.”

The WPS homicide unit is investigating the killings. Forensics officers have been at the home, located between Sara and Westminster avenues, all week to collect evidence and document the scene.

Police are urging anyone with information or surveillance or dashcam video to contact investigators or Crime Stoppers.

The Beardy sisters, who were from Lake St. Martin First Nation, will be buried side-by-side in a Winnipeg cemetery, aunt Roberta Owen told reporters at a Tuesday night vigil in the North End.

Each sister had two children. Owen remembered the siblings as “happy spirits,” who were close and loved to joke with family and friends.

Crystal Beardy lived in Winnipeg; Stephanie Beardy was visiting from Lake St. Martin, about 250 kilometres north of the Manitoba capital.

Lesikel’s loved ones, meanwhile, are raising money to repatriate him to his native Kenya. He previously studied biology at the University of Manitoba.

“Our beloved Mele was gunned down in a senseless act of violence on Sunday morning, taking from us a most kind, joyful, beautiful soul, who found great joy in sharing funny stories, caring for animals, and most of all, loving his mum and family,” a GoFundMe page states. “We will forever miss the sound of his contagious laughter, and hearing his gentle and kind voice.”

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The web page was set up by a family member in Iowa. She declined to comment.

Bear Clan Patrol is holding a vigil outside the Langside Street home Sunday afternoon to support the victims’ families and help the West Broadway neighbourhood “begin the healing process,” according to a Facebook post.

The volunteer organization has a local chapter which conducts safety patrols and outreach in the community.

Winnipeg had recorded 38 homicides in 2023, as of Thursday.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.