The parents of a 19-year-old slain while playing soccer in a Surrey schoolyard pleaded with the congregation at a Sikh temple on Sunday to help find whoever killed their son.
Wayne Bell and Cynthia Allaire-Bell, parents of Devon Allaire-Bell, were invited to address the Dasmesh Darbar Temple to send a message to the community that such a tragedy is unacceptable and mustn't happen again, said temple president Gian Gill.
"We wanted to connect with the family and reach out to them with our condolences," Gill said. "The police still cannot find the people who killed him, and we wanted to help and spread the message in our community."
Devon Allaire-Bell was slain on April 24 while playing soccer with friend Jack Neilsen, 20, at Surrey's Frank Hurt secondary.
A fight broke out at around 8: 30 p.m. when a group of three men approached Allaire-Bell and Neilsen. At least two more men joined the attack later on, said Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. Some carried knives and both Allaire-Bell and Neilsen were repeatedly stabbed. Neilsen survived but Allaire-Bell died later at hospital.
School cameras caught the attackers on surveillance tape.
The video of five suspects was released by police at a news conference on May 5, but the images were grainy and none of the suspects have been identified.
Carr said police have recently obtained a new video with much better resolution. The new images will be distributed internally before being released to the public, he said.
"It's the least favourable option to go about identifying someone through a very public appeal with their images all over the place," Carr said. "It's better if we can learn who they are and go to them privately and hear their side of stories."
The victim's father said that in his address to the community, he wanted to tell people who his son was.
"He was an incredible friend to a lot of people," Wayne Bell said in an interview later. "So many stories that surfaced after this tragedy made us realize who he truly was."
"We discovered that a lot of young people would talk to him about their problems and he'd help them; he carried a lot of weight on his young shoulders and he never betrayed that confidence, not even to us."
Bell said he hopes there will be some response to his plea, but added: "Will there ever be justice to us? It'll probably never be enough. Because no matter what, our son won't be returning to us."
Carr said police have been basing the details of the incident on what survivor Nielsen has told them.
"We're hoping people will come forward with information on their own and that the people we're looking for will identify themselves," Carr said.
Carr described the suspects as South Asian and in their 20s. He also said forensic investigators are sending numerous pieces of evidence collected near the crime scene for analysis.
Several MLAs, including North Delta's Guy Gentner, Surrey-Newton's Harry Bains and Surrey-Fleetwood's Jagrup Brar, were at the temple during the family's address.
Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448.
Read more: http://www.{censored}/news/Parents+call+answers+death/4860995/story.html#ixzz1NsFPyFC4
Wayne Bell and Cynthia Allaire-Bell, parents of Devon Allaire-Bell, were invited to address the Dasmesh Darbar Temple to send a message to the community that such a tragedy is unacceptable and mustn't happen again, said temple president Gian Gill.
"We wanted to connect with the family and reach out to them with our condolences," Gill said. "The police still cannot find the people who killed him, and we wanted to help and spread the message in our community."
Devon Allaire-Bell was slain on April 24 while playing soccer with friend Jack Neilsen, 20, at Surrey's Frank Hurt secondary.
A fight broke out at around 8: 30 p.m. when a group of three men approached Allaire-Bell and Neilsen. At least two more men joined the attack later on, said Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. Some carried knives and both Allaire-Bell and Neilsen were repeatedly stabbed. Neilsen survived but Allaire-Bell died later at hospital.
School cameras caught the attackers on surveillance tape.
The video of five suspects was released by police at a news conference on May 5, but the images were grainy and none of the suspects have been identified.
Carr said police have recently obtained a new video with much better resolution. The new images will be distributed internally before being released to the public, he said.
"It's the least favourable option to go about identifying someone through a very public appeal with their images all over the place," Carr said. "It's better if we can learn who they are and go to them privately and hear their side of stories."
The victim's father said that in his address to the community, he wanted to tell people who his son was.
"He was an incredible friend to a lot of people," Wayne Bell said in an interview later. "So many stories that surfaced after this tragedy made us realize who he truly was."
"We discovered that a lot of young people would talk to him about their problems and he'd help them; he carried a lot of weight on his young shoulders and he never betrayed that confidence, not even to us."
Bell said he hopes there will be some response to his plea, but added: "Will there ever be justice to us? It'll probably never be enough. Because no matter what, our son won't be returning to us."
Carr said police have been basing the details of the incident on what survivor Nielsen has told them.
"We're hoping people will come forward with information on their own and that the people we're looking for will identify themselves," Carr said.
Carr described the suspects as South Asian and in their 20s. He also said forensic investigators are sending numerous pieces of evidence collected near the crime scene for analysis.
Several MLAs, including North Delta's Guy Gentner, Surrey-Newton's Harry Bains and Surrey-Fleetwood's Jagrup Brar, were at the temple during the family's address.
Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448.
Read more: http://www.{censored}/news/Parents+call+answers+death/4860995/story.html#ixzz1NsFPyFC4