Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Crazybull’s loved ones gathered Sunday at a spot on 17 Avenue Southwest, as they have each year for nearly a decade, and marched to the spot where she was fatally attacked in the summer of 2007.
This year’s ‘Justice for Jackie Walk’ took place on what would have been Crazybull’s 53rd birthday.
“We didn’t choose the anniversary of her death but we chose today because we wanted to honour her and we wanted to remember her,” said Lauren Crazybull, Jackie’s niece.
Jackie Crazybull, a mother of nine, had been seated on a bench on July 11, 2007 near the intersection of 11 Street and 17 Avenue S.W. when, according to police, she was fatally attacked by an occupant or occupants of a car. Crazybull was one of five people injured in random attacks that occurred that fateful night. The other four victims recovered from their injuries, Crazybull did not. No charges have been laid in connection with her death.
Lauren Crazybull says the lack of progress in the investigation into her aunt’s death speaks to the much greater problem of murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada.
“It’s really important that we are here today because it’s not just for Jackie, it’s not just because of this one incident, it’s because this is happening all over the country,” said Lauren. “It’s been happening for decades. There are thousands of women.”
Lauren Crazybull questions the approach of police across Canada when it comes to investigating disappearances and homicides. “The way that they respond to our deaths versus someone who is non-Indigenous is completely different,” said Jackie Crazybull’s niece. “It’s completely built on racist and colonial ideologies.”
“There’s a lot of broken systems.”
In 2009, members of the Calgary Police Service stated they had identified suspects in connection with Crazybull’s death but a lack of evidence prevented the laying of charges.
