A decade later, friends and families of Brentwood Five still trying to heal

In the early hours of April 15, 2014, five friends were stabbed to death during a party at a Brentwood home – an act that shook Calgary to its core.

Kaiti Perras, Lawrence Hong, Jordan Segura, Zackariah Rathwell and Josh Hunter were killed by Matthew de Grood, who was found to have been not criminally responsible (NCR).

Monday will mark 10 years since their deaths.

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Kyle Tenove was in a band with Rathwell and Hunter.

Performing a sold-out show at the Palomino in Calgary, the group had no idea the tragedy that would soon strike.

On April 12, 2014, Zackariah and the Prophets released their six-song EP record.

"Four best friends having the best time of their lives," Tenove said.

"We recorded it in Lethbridge in a little farmhouse."

Rathwell was lead vocalist and guitar player, Barry Mason was lead guitar, Hunter played drums and Tenove was on bass.

All four met in high school at Bishop Carroll and became sudden friends.

Tenove and Mason, the two surviving members of that band, are both continuing with their music careers in other projects.

But the pair say they wanted to remember their bandmates and re-release their EP – a remastered version – on the 10-year anniversary of when it first came out.

"We just decided it was a good time to have it up on streaming and maybe kind of make a bit of a positive impact within our own community," Tenove said.

"A lot of us are still affected by what happened and this feels for myself and Barry Mason, the other remaining member from the band, it feels like a special way to honour our departed friends."

Tenove says the past decade has not been easy, but support from friends and family, and therapy, have helped immensely.

"It gets to this point, 10 years later, where it feels OK, we're ready to revisit this and maybe do some more healing to get to a point that we can feel better," he said.

Tenove has gone on to help start the Prophets of Music Society, created to honour Hunter and Rathwell.

The not-for-profit group was started by members of Hunter's family and invests in emerging artists and local communities, and honours the power of music.

Gregg Perras is Kaiti's father.

Recalling the past 10 years from a family home in Arizona, he says the years that go by do not get any easier.

"To put it in the background, it's pretty difficult to do that," he said.

"They were hanging out with all their friends, having a great time."

Perras reflects on all the advocacy he has done on his daughter's behalf since her death.

He says he's most proud of the Quinterra Legacy Garden in South Glenmore Park, which is an interactive musical garden that pays tribute to all five young adults.

It offers Perras peace in his healing journey.

"They can't speak for themselves," he said.

"She was a very strong person and it's important to keep that legacy going."

A court determined de Grood had been living with undiagnosed schizophrenia at the time of the killings, and he has since been under psychiatric care.