Loved ones of a 28-year-old woman who was slain behind Portage Place last week are remembering her as a caring mother who leaves behind four young children.
Briannah Clowes died after she was found critically injured and unresponsive in the first 100 block of The Promenade shortly after 3 p.m. on Oct. 31.
A man she knew was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Sunday, Winnipeg police said.
SUPPLIED PHOTO Briannah Clowes, 28, is remembered as a former health-care aide and mother of four. Her accused killer has been charged with second-degree murder.
Clowes, who once worked as a health-care aide at St. Boniface Hospital, strived for a better future for herself and her children, said her sister Shauna Clowes.
“She always had such hope. She was a kind, beautiful soul who only ever wanted to be loved and to give love,” the sibling wrote in a message to the Free Press.
She and others who knew Clowes called for justice.
“(Briannah) was done wrong by many people and the system. She truly deserved better,” Shauna Clowes wrote. “This heinous act of violence should not go unpunished.”
She linked her sister’s recent struggles to a former partner, who is not the man charged in the homicide, that she said was physically and mentally abusive to Clowes and other females.
She gave the name of a man who, according to previous news reports, was jailed for violent attacks on former partners before he met Clowes.
“Violent offenders should stay behind bars,” the sister wrote. “He tried to strip her away piece by piece. I believe she wouldn’t have wound up in the place she was if she hadn’t met him.”
Shauna Clowes is waiting for answers about what happened to her sister. She doesn’t know her sister knew the man charged in the killing.
Ryan John Kennedy, 32, was arrested without incident by North District general patrol officers. He was held in custody on the second-degree murder charge.
A Facebook profile that appeared to belong to Kennedy contained several cryptic posts between the night of Oct. 31 and Saturday morning.
Police would not say how Clowes and Kennedy knew each other. Police did not release any specific information about how Clowes was killed, nor would they say if she was found inside a building or outside on The Promenade.
In a news release, police said officers provided emergency medical care when they were called to the scene on Halloween. Clowes was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital in critical condition.
Elefriede and Larry Flett, the paternal grandparents of Clowes’ 11-year-old son, her eldest child, visited the scene Saturday to leave flowers and burn sage.
Her caring and kind spirit will live on through her children, the Fletts said.
“She has three boys and a little girl that will never know their mom. That’s the sad part,” said Elefriede Flett, whose family has been caring for Clowes’ eldest child.
“She was a loving mother. She tried hard. She tried really hard, but you know what it’s like in downtown Winnipeg. It’s not a safe place.”
She said Clowes was vulnerable and taken advantage of by some people who were in her life recently.
“She tried to change her life. She always had a good heart,” said Flett. “Justice has to be served. There’s no reason to take someone’s life.”
The Fletts hadn’t seen Clowes in years, but said she was a big part of their family for a long time. The Fletts’ son isn’t the partner who was abusive to her.
“We always told her she could be part of our family,” said Larry Flett.
Additional flowers and a candle were placed at the scene Sunday by a friend, who said she was going through a difficult time after Clowes’ death.
A different friend, who gave his name as Luke, had tears in his eyes while he talked about Clowes near Portage Place, where he was panhandling.
“She was such a good person. She always said hello to me,” he said.
Luke said Clowes would step in to help him when people hassled him.
“On the street, we live in the moment. I just want to say she was a good person,” he said.
— With files from John Woods
Chris Kitching
Reporter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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