In a Facebook video from 2018, there’s no mistaking the pain Mike Martin, Chantel Moore’s brother, is expressing about his life, living on the streets.
“They just give me these looks of disgust just because they know I live on the streets right? They all think I’m just some, like I aim to be the way I am,” Martin says in the video as he wipes away tears.
The 23-year-old died by suicide in his holding cell at the Surrey Pretrial Centre two weeks ago, six months after his older sister, 26-year-old Chantel Moore, was shot to death by police in New Brunswick.
READ MORE: Chantel Moore’s family calls for changes to justice system after her brother commits suicide
“We know that he was having great difficulties with the loss of his sister, the shooting of his sister, and just wasn’t processing that very well,” said Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council President Judith Sayers.
“The impacts of that shooting continue to reverberate through her family, there’s still the grief but now the loss of another family member because of that one incident? It’s beyond people’s imaginations sometimes.”
The loss of two young lives has crushed Mike and Chantel’s Port Alberni friends and family, especially their mother Martha Martin.
“They’re devastated, beyond devastated I mean for Martha losing two children within six months of each other is just an incredible tragedy,” said Sayers,
But even in their grief, the family gathered food and necessities to share with the Port Alberni homeless population in Mike’s honour last weekend.
“The eradication of racism in the justice system, in the health system, so many of these things we need to have addressed,” said Sayers.
“Let’s act now, we can’t be silent anymore.”
The investigation into Chantel Moore’s death at the hands of an Edmunston Police officer is ongoing as the community continues its demands for accountability.
April Lawrence
