The mother of a woman killed in Saanich this week is remembering her daughter as “a beautiful person” who she hoped would come back from the “wrong road” she had travelled in recent days.
Judy Elk told CTV News on Friday that she’ll miss her daughter’s presence and her laughter most of all.
Stephanie Elk, who went by the name Jade, was one of two people killed in an incident near Uptown shopping centre on Wednesday.
“Her energy is positive,” Judy said. “She sees the good in everybody and she’s supportive and she’s smart.”
CHARGES LAID
Judy said police told her Jade had been stabbed.
Christopher Cathcart, 36, who is also known as Christian Bird, has been charged with second-degree murder in Jade’s death. Police have not revealed the identity of the second victim, nor have any charges been laid in that slaying.
Judy said Cathcart and her daughter were engaged – at least according to Facebook – and her daughter’s friends described Cathcart as Jade’s boyfriend. The mother said she’s never met Cathcart.
Around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Saanich police and the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit attended a home in the 3400 block of Bethune Avenue near Uptown shopping centre, where officers had cordoned off the entire street down to Rutledge Park.
Investigators could also be seen in a forested section of Blanshard Street, near Saanich Road, that was also behind police tape Wednesday afternoon.
Police said they were investigating two homicides that “appear to be related,” and they later clarified that the residents of the home officers visited Wednesday were not involved in the incident.
REMEMBERING A MOTHER
Jade is survived by two daughters, ages 16 and three, according to Judy, who said her grandchildren were already living with her before the homicide.
“All I can say is that she’s a beautiful girl and a good mother to her children,” Judy said.
“She couldn’t meet that kind of responsibility every day, so I stepped in and I helped her with that. I’m glad to be there for her and support her any way I can, and she always tells me she’s grateful for it. So, I was hoping that she’ll come out of this.”
“This,” according to Judy, was alcoholism. She said Jade’s brother died in 2013, and her daughter had been struggling with alcohol – and possibly other drugs, though she didn’t know for sure – ever since.
Other sources told CTV News Jade was known in the unhoused community in Greater Victoria, and Judy said she’s been touched by the kind words of people who knew her daughter.
“It’s nice to see posts on Facebook where they talked respectfully of her and how they’re going to miss her,” she said.
