‘She was going places; she was going to be somebody’ More than four years after her little sister’s scratched, bruised, naked body was found in the bathtub, a Winnipeg woman fears the aspiring doctor’s death was a homicide that won’t be solved By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023 Last Modified: 8:23 AM CDT Friday, Mar. 24, 2023 Updates

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/03/2023 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Christine Baker writes a daily entry in her prayer journal, the Winnipeg woman always records the same hope for her late sister — justice.

It’s been more than four years since the body of aspiring doctor Sheena-Marie Dubois, a 30-year-old University of Manitoba student, was discovered in her West End apartment.

Police deemed the death suspicious and Baker fears her sister was the victim of a homicide. As time passes, she doesn’t want Dubois or the case to be forgotten.

“She was going places; she was going to be somebody,” Baker said in a tearful interview Thursday. “She wanted to help people.”

Police spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said the case is still being investigated as a suspicious death by the homicide unit.

Dubois, a resident of Sagkeeng First Nation who grew up in Winnipeg, overcame a turbulent childhood and faced personal struggles as an adult while on her way to becoming a U of M student.

“Having each other helped us get through it all,” said Baker.

Dubois was studying medicine at the U of M, according to the winter 2019 edition of the St. John’s College publication In Lumine, which mentioned her death.

She dreamed of setting up a practice in Sagkeeng, about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, and travelling across northern Manitoba to help patients in Indigenous communities.

She was entering the best years of her life, said Baker, when she was found in her apartment on Young Street, just north of Ellice Avenue, on Nov. 6, 2018.

Baker said police officers visited her the next day to break the news to her.

She collapsed to her knees and broke down in tears.

“They knocked on the door and I knew right away what it was about,” Baker, 38, said. “It’s almost like it was yesterday. I still feel the pain.”

She was later given a copy of an autopsy report. Some of the details lead her to believe her sister was harmed by someone.

She said Dubois was found unclothed in a bathtub with a number of injuries, including a gouged eye, cuts, scratches and bruises and clumps of her hair pulled out.

“She didn’t deserve that. I believe she was fighting for her life,” said Baker.

She said she had to use makeup to cover some of the visible injuries for her sister’s funeral in Sagkeeng. She slept next to Dubois’ casket before the service.

The autopsy found Dubois likely died three days before her body was found, Baker said. It also found Dubois had alcohol but no drugs in her system.

She questions whether a broken window, next to a fire escape, in her sister’s suite was connected to the death.

As she wiped away tears, Baker described her sister as “vibrant, intelligent and beautiful.” She recalled how Dubois always carried her university textbooks with her in a satchel.

Dubois was an advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women.

“Only to become a statistic herself,” said Baker.

The fact she still doesn’t know what happened to her sister has left her feeling “depleted.”

She fears she won’t be any closer to finding out when she marks the fifth anniversary of the death later this year.

This week, Baker spoke to a Winnipeg Police Service employee about accessing supports and resources.

While navigating her grief, she is trying to raise enough money to purchase a headstone for her sister’s gravesite and settle an outstanding bill with a funeral home.

To help her cope with her loss, Baker has started going to church on Sundays. She keeps a prayer journal that mentions everyone from loved ones to strangers.

She hopes a day will come when she no longer has to pray for justice.

“If you know anything about her death, please come forward,” said Baker. “I’m begging you. Have mercy on her.”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching