‘Shining light’ extinguished

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This article was published 30/04/2025 (508 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman who died a victim of a murder-suicide is being remembered for her bright demeanour and the way she cared for those around her.

“She was a shining, shining light. Always happy, always enjoyed life,” said Ken Everard, stepfather of Nadia Flett-Carriere, noting she had five younger siblings. “She was loved by everybody around her and she loved everybody she was around.”

The bodies of Flett-Carriere, 22, and a 27-year-old man were discovered after a “domestic incident” at a West End home Monday. Winnipeg police announced Wednesday the deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.

Police identified the homicide victim as Flett-Carriere, who lived in the city and was a member of God’s Lake First Nation in northern Manitoba.

The name of the man, who police say died by suicide, was not released.

That was because he was not formally charged with a crime, and police usually do not release details when a person dies by suicide, spokesman Const. Stephen Spencer told the Free Press.

Everard told the Free Press the man’s name was Jerome Moar.

“It’s a horrible tragedy,” Everard said. “Something we never ever would have thought we’d have to go through, but we are.”

Police said officers responded to a “domestic incident” on the 500 block of Sherburn Street shortly after 2 p.m. Monday.

Officers provided emergency medical care to Flett-Carriere and the man until paramedics arrived. Both died after being taken to hospital in critical condition, police said.

The homicide unit is investigating the incident. Police said they are not looking for any suspects and they do not believe there is any danger to the public. Investigators asked anyone with information to call 204-986-6508 or Crime Stoppers 204-786-8477 (TIPS).

Spencer confirmed the homicide was a case of intimate partner violence. He was unable to say who reported the incident to police or how Flett-Carriere was killed.

Police would not say if there was a history of violence prior to the murder-suicide.

The woman’s stepfather said Flett-Carriere went to Moar’s house, where they lived together when they were dating, to collect some of her belongings. She thought he would be at work, but he was home.

Flett-Carriere had messaged some friends to let them know where she was going, said her boyfriend, Paden Shelton. When she stopped responding to messages, he and some of her friends went to the house. When they arrived, police were already there.

“She was the most genuine and sweetest person I’ve ever met,” Shelton said. “She cared for all those around her… nobody made me laugh the way she did.”

The couple started dating in December after being introduced by their siblings. Shelton recalled Flett-Carriere’s passion for working in restaurant kitchens and how the two of them enjoyed playing the online videogame Fortnite together.

“She’ll be loved and she’ll be remembered forever,” Shelton said.

Flett-Carriere’s siblings are struggling to comprehend what happened, Everard said.

“We felt like Nadia was just getting the feet under her with career choices and trying to set some more permanent roots down with us here at home and her siblings and a new relationship that was budding,” he said. “Unfortunately none of that’s going to happen.”

A high school friend remembered Flett-Carriere as a kind-hearted person and a loyal friend.

“She was a great friend. She always was there for you if you needed anything,” said Caitlin Martens Baker, who attended Elmwood High School with Flett-Carriere. “She was very funny and she lit up almost every room she stepped in.”

Flett-Carriere later graduated from Argyle Alternative High School.

Manitoba had the second-highest rate of police-reported intimate partner violence among Canadian provinces in 2023, according to Statistics Canada data.

The rate was 628 victims per 100,000 population, down slightly from 633 the previous year but much higher than a national rate of 354, the study found.

Because intimate partner violence is often not reported to police, the data likely underestimate the full scope of the issue, StatCan noted.

Kara Neustaedter, manager of Hummingbird, the sexual assault and intimate partner violence crisis response program at Klinic Community Health, experiences a combination of feelings when she learns of a homicide resulting from intimate partner violence.

“A sense of profound sadness, profound frustration,” she said. “A sense of failure, and that it’s such a frequent tragedy that is so difficult to make any really sustainable change on.”

Governments in Canada have faced calls to provide more help to prevent violence and support survivors.

People who experience violence and abuse in a relationship often have a range of complex needs that require a multitude of supports or services from different agencies, Neustaedter said.

They can include housing, child care, employment, banking, transportation, food security or mental health.

“There are so many competing and complex systemic needs. When someone is in those situations they often need all of those addressed at the same time in order to be able to leave a situation, and then take care of themselves and their families in a robust way,” Neustaedter said. “Our system is fragmented and supported by government in unequal ways, and it just makes it really, really challenging for persons.”

Programs that provide wraparound or holistic care, or help to navigate survivors to ensure they get all the supports they need, are essential, she noted.

“Domestic violence and intimate partner violence is one of those dynamic social problems that doesn’t have one solution,” Neustaedter said. “It has multiple solutions. I know we often talk about reducing silos or breaking down silos because we work in isolation. I think we do work in isolation, or we don’t have really robust pathways to go from one organization or one service to another.”

People can contact Klinic’s crisis line at 204-786-8686 or 1-888-322-3019. Other resources include Winnipeg Police Service victim services at 204-986-6350, and the province’s domestic violence crisis line at 1-877-977-0007.

Police said people can call Ikwe Widdjiitiwin at 1-800-362-3344 or Willow Place at 204-615-0311 for information about family violence shelters.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca