The RCMP counts on the community lacking resources to sustain pressure on the investigation and on public interest fading to escape accountability for murder. Don’t let that happen. #justiceforvanessarenteria
#Justiciaparavanessarenteria
#sayhernamevanessa #BlackLivesMatter #SayHerName

Vanessa was a refugee.. She came to Canada seeking safety, studying English, learning new skills, volunteering, and building a better life for her daughter. Her life ended in violence, the same violence she fled.

Her family and community reject the RCMP’s claim that Vanessa was a risk to her child. Too often, police portray Black women as dangerous to justify their murder. Vanessa’s child was her world, just as she was her family’s. Her loved ones firmly believe she would never have harmed her 18-month baby

Vanessa’s family in Colombia and her friends knew she had been enduring domestic violence for months. After leaving her husband’s home for a shelter, she was forced to return because she felt unsafe there and had nowhere else to go. She and her baby were alone in Canada.

The RCMP says that Vanessa was “barricaded in a room with a weapon near a child.” Within an hour of arriving, an officer shot her three times, killing her in front of her baby.