Calgarians gathered at a vigil on Sunday evening to mourn the deaths of five-year-old Taliyah Marsman and her mother, Sara Baillie, who were murdered last week.
Baillie’s body was found in her northwest home last Monday after police were called to check on her welfare when she failed to show up for work.
Her daughter, Taliyah Marsman, was abducted from the scene and an AMBER Alert was issued across the province.
The little girl’s body was located three days later in a rural area east of the city.
Edward Delten Downey, 46, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in their deaths.
Friends and family are devastated by the crime and dozens of people attended a vigil on Sunday night at Sandstone Park and brought flowers, blew bubbles and lit sparklers in memory of the little girl and her mother.
“It’s nice to see people from all over. We had people from our community, people from our school and people that are obviously not from our community, so it’s awesome, good to see,” said Jennifer Schroder.
“I think we need these so that we can all band together as a community and show our support for the families and the friends of the victims,” said Kelly Sullivan.
“I’m really proud to see so many people that have come out from the community and just a lot of compassion that's happening right now,” said Sue Coatham.
Chris Johnson, a rapper who goes by the name L’IL Chris, described his cousin Taliyah as “always smiling” and having an “aura and energy that lit up the whole house.”
“It was not right,” Johnson said. “She was only a baby
A funeral for Taliyah and Sara will be held at the Centre Street Church this Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
