A mother whose son was murdered nearly three years ago is sharing her story in the hopes that someone will come forward with new information about the case.
Louise Smith’s son, Chad, was delivering pizza to an apartment in Dartmouth when he was shot and killed in October 2010.
She recently celebrated what would have been his 30th birthday.
“I’ll always celebrate his birthday and his heaven dates. I say heaven date because it’s a day Chad went to heaven,” says Smith, who lives in Windsor Junction, N.S.
“He was a son, he was a brother, he was a dad. He had two young children.”
The case has never been solved and her family is desperately searching for answers.
“It’s a lonely spot to be when you get that knock on the door and you don’t know anybody else that had their child murdered,” says Smith.
She found support in Vince MacDonald, a grief therapist who runs support groups for bereaved parents.
“A violent act has taken their child’s life and this is different from a car accident, it’s different from a suicide, it’s different from natural causes,” says MacDonald.
He started including families affected by homicide in his support groups and together, he and Smith have been developing a booklet for families who have lost loved ones as a result of homicide.
“Basically what we’re looking at is to be able to give parents or family members a hands-on, pocket-type book that they can just refer to that will be full of valuable information about grief, about trauma,” says MacDonald.
Chad’s case has been added to Nova Scotia’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program and is considered an active investigation.
“We have very limited details about what actually happened that night,” says Halifax Regional Police Const. Pierre Bourdages.
Both Bourdages and Smith’s family are asking anyone with information about the case to come forward, even if it means leaving an anonymous tip.
“Anything helps, even if it’s something we already know, we want the information that people have,” says Bourdages.
Smith says she also wants to thank the man who stayed by her son’s side during his final minutes. He spoke to CTV News a few days after the shooting.
“I tried to help, see what I could go,” area resident Donald Manning told CTV News on October 25, 2010. “I got the wife to call 911, covered with a blanket, checked to see if I could find a pulse.”
“You know what, it’s people like that that give me hope,” says Smith.
Now she’s asking others who have information about her son’s death to show the same compassion.
“I’m just begging them as a mom who lost a child, please come forward. Do the right thing because you have information that could help bring justice.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster
