The mother of one of the Kirkland Lake murder victims is seeking justice for her daughter.
On Aug. 8, 33-year-old Lea Thompson and 37-year-old Kyle Robertson, both of Kirkland Lake, were the victims of a double murder at a Kirkpatrick Street residence.
It was the second double murder in the community of about 7,000 people in under two weeks.
Tammy Thompson, Lea’s mother, is pleading that anyone who knows anything about what happened to go to the police.
“I want whoever's involved to pay. They have to pay for it. What they did was wrong. They robbed my nine-year-old-granddaughter of her mom and all the rest of us of her too,” Thompson said.
Thompson was on her way home from Newfoundland with her granddaughter (and Lea’s daughter) Shea-Lynn when she found out her daughter had died.
The residence where Lea and Robertson were found belonged to Robertson, Thompson said.
“I don’t know who all else was there though,” she said.
Thompson said her daughter was very caring and would help anyone she could.
“She was strong; strong-minded and willed. And stubborn. Very stubborn. She cared about her daughter a lot. That was her number one everything,” she said.
“(Shea-Lynn) wants to tell her mommy that she loves her and misses her. She looked up the phone number for heaven so she could call her mom. She phones her mom's cell phone every day just to hear her mommy's voice.”
Angel Liddell, Thompson’s niece, said Lea will never be forgotten.
“I just hope she's happy where she is,” she said.
To help pay for funeral expenses — with the remaining amount being put in a school fund for Shea-Lynn — Liddell created a GoFundMe, which, as of Friday (Aug. 18) afternoon, had raised a total of $1,100 of its $8,000 goal.
OPP media relations and community safety officer Const. Rob Lewis told TimminsToday that at this time there are no updates on the investigation.
“When more information is available, I will provide updates to the media,” he said.
Police have also asked for the public's help.
They are looking for people with video surveillance or dashcam footage showing any part of Kirkpatrick Street or the surrounding neighbourhood from Saturday, Aug. 5 to Tuesday, Aug. 8.
If you have footage that can help the police, contact Kirkland Lake OPP at 1-888-310-1122. To remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Thompson said this shouldn’t have happened to her daughter.
“I want anybody that has any information to talk. It's the only way they're gonna be able to charge somebody,” she said.
The family will receive friends on Monday, Aug. 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Timiskaming Funeral Cooperative (formerly French Family Funeral Home) at 111 Burnside Dr. in Kirkland Lake.
A funeral mass will also be held on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at 11 a.m. at Timiskaming Funeral Cooperative.
Marissa Lentz covers civic issues along the Highway 11 corridor under the Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the Government of Canada. She is based out of the TimminsToday newsroom