Edmonton mother and child killed in stabbing remembered at funeral

Dozens of people gathered at a church Wednesday to bid an emotional farewell to a mother and her child who were stabbed to death outside an Edmonton school earlier this month. 

Carolann Robillard, 35, and 11-year-old Sara Miller, who had recently started using the first name Jayden, were killed in what police said was a random attack outside Crawford Plains School on May 5. 

Those who attended the funeral at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, northeast of downtown Edmonton, donned T-shirts with a photo of the mother and child. Attendees embraced each other ahead of the service.   

Robillard's sister, Amanda Robillard, said purple was her sibling's favourite colour. She said a community member donated pins with a purple ribbon for the funeral to honour Robillard and Miller. 

With a blend of Indigenous traditions and Catholic practices, the caskets of Robillard and Miller were carried inside the church as the hall resounded with Cree drums and singing, with the scent of sage lingering in the air. 

"It doesn't feel real," Amanda Robillard said. "[Carolann] cared about her kids. She was a great mother." 

Robillard was studying to become a teacher's assistant, the sister said in her eulogy.

"Carolann will be remembered for her continuous dancing, her deadly auntie laugh, her big dimples and her beautiful outlook on life," she said.

She added Miller had a big heart and loved everyone. "He wanted to become a professional basketball player," she said.

"(He needed) to make others feel accepted. He made sure to seek out the new janitor at school simply to tell him, 'Thank you for what you do."'

The sister said the attack could have been preventable.

"They were taken from us and it tore our family apart," she said. 

Police have said a 33-year-old man was the sole person responsible for the deaths.

He had been facing assault charges for allegedly attacking a man on a scooter, police have said, but the charges were stayed two days before the stabbing.