'This has got to be a nightmare,' says family of woman and two children killed in Portage la Prairie
CBC
The family of a Portage la Prairie woman says they're still in the dark about what happened the night she and her two young children were killed in their home.
"I don't think I could really believe it, this has got to be a nightmare," said Tammi St. Jean, recalling a phone call she took with Manitoba RCMP from her Calgary home on April 11.
"This can't be real, that was my first thought. Come on, this isn't real."
Early in the morning of April 10, fire crews responded to a fire in Portage la Prairie, and found three people dead inside the house.
St. Jean says the victims were her daughter, Shantelle Murphy, and Murphy's two children, six-year-old Isabella Murphy and three-year-old Mason Murphy.
Trevis McLeod, who St. Jean says was Shantelle's partner and father of the two children, has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder, as well as a charge of arson related to the incident.
St. Jean remembers her daughter as a cheerful and caring person. She was a social butterfly, with a lot of friends.
"From the time she was born … she'd wake up with a smile and go to sleep with a smile," said St. Jean.
The most important thing in Shantelle's life were her children.
"She loved those kids with all her heart, she did everything for those kids. There was never a day gone by where she didn't hug and kiss those kids and tell them how much she loved them," said St. Jean.
"She would just do anything for those kids, she was an excellent mother."
According to St. Jean, Shantelle would often call to tell her stories about her grandchildren.
"Shantelle would always [be] bragging about how Isabella talked nonstop and was really good with her words," said St. Jean.
Isabella "was bright and full of energy … she was very inquisitive, always asking questions."
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