Kinew hails Carman residents, mental-health support after family slain; commits funds for non-profit agency, memorial honouring victims

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This article was published 01/05/2024 (498 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CARMAN — Nancy Clearwater expects the memorial will be close to the children of this town, at the park her slain loved ones liked to go to, just down the road from their former home.

Her daughter, Amanda Clearwater, 30, her three grandchildren — two-month-old Isabella, four-year-old Jayven and six-year-old Bethany — and her 17-year-old niece, Myah-Lee Gratton were found dead in multiple locations Feb. 11, allegedly slain by Amanda’s common-law partner.

Premier Wab Kinew announced a $20,000 grant for a memorial honouring the victims and $300,000 in funding for a non-profit resource support organization during a visit to Carman Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m still in a bit of shock… because there’s so much, but it will help memorialize my children, and my daughter and, hopefully, bring awareness to domestic violence,” Clearwater said after the premier’s announcement.

Although the plans for the memorial are still in the preliminary stage, she said there have been discussions about building it at a park.

“(It) was just down the street from my daughter, that was their park that they liked to go to,” she said.

Kinew, who attended a vigil shortly after the killings, and later, the victims’ memorial service, said he was moved by the strength of the town and its community.

“What really stood out to me was people could have said, ‘That’s someone else’s family.’ They could have said, ‘That’s not my kin, that’s something that doesn’t have anything to do with me,’” Kinew said.

“But that’s not what people in Carman said. People in Carman stood up and responded and helped these families, as if this was their own — as if these were their own kin, their own kids, their own grandkids.”

He said he kept hearing about Carman Wellness Connection and the work it was doing to support mourners with counselling and other resources in the “dark moment.”

The six-figure funding for Carman Wellness Connection will be spread over three years.

Staffed by volunteers, the organization provides social service assistance, mental-health supports, and helps residents of the town and surrounding rural municipality connect with resources. It was initially struck in 2020 to help people in the area affected by poverty and has operated with shoe-string budget.

Board member Karen Tjaden said the funding will help enhance programming and hire a staff co-ordinator to assist volunteers, bring in more resources and collaborate with other community organizations.

Clearwater said the funding for Carman Wellness Connections will, hopefully, get the town back on its feet.

“That is going to really help out in us being able to do a lot of things for this community and the people in it,” she said.

Carman Mayor Brent Owen said the killings shook the community to its core.

“Something like this is not supposed to happen in small-town, rural Manitoba,” he said, thanking Carman residents and Manitobans, more broadly, for the support that’s been offered.

He added that the municipal government will also support the planned memorial with funding.

Ryan Manoakeesick, the common-law partner of Clearwater and the father of her children, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder.

A judge declared the 29-year-old man mentally fit to stand trial. He is in custody, and his next court date is scheduled June 3.

The victims and suspect lived together in a house in Carman, about 75 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

Clearwater’s body was found in a ditch next to Highway 3, about seven kilometres south of the town.

About two hours later, police received a report of a burning vehicle on Provincial Road 248, just north of Elie. The children’s bodies were near the vehicle when officers arrived.

Manoakeesick was arrested at the scene.

The investigation led police to the Carman home, where Gratton’s body was discovered.

Two months before she died, Gratton, a high school student, told a friend she had left a message for her social worker in which she pleaded to be moved out of the home.

Gratton also sent voice notes and text messages to friends, saying she feared for her safety.

Her mother, Juliette Hastings, who lives in Winnipeg, has said she warned child-welfare staff Gratton wasn’t safe in the home. She claims her warnings were ignored.

Hastings has discussed a possible lawsuit with a lawyer.

The province launched an internal review of Child and Family Services’ contact.

Kinew has not ruled out an inquiry, which has been called for by the Opposition Tories, following the conclusion of criminal court proceedings.

— with files from Chris Kitching

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

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