dylan cole mcgillis › deadmonton 2006 › deadmonton › edmonton

WARNING

Dylan Cole McGillis, 20, was stabbed to death November 19th, 2006.

Case status is open and active.

latest update
related stabbing | the press conference
the mayor, the premier, the police chief, the expert and a cop
whyte avenue | the city responds
the funeral | the letters
a person of interest | a vigil after one month
a silent march for justice | a walk in memory of Dylan
citizens' rights group forms | Edmonton murder draws eerie parallels

The early hours of Sunday, November 19th, 2006 saw police dealing with an unusually high level of violence and death – even by Edmonton's standards.

Police were first called to a hall party in the city's west end. Upon arrival they found 17-year-old Evan Grykuliak dying of stab wounds.

Two men died in separate and spectacular car crashes – one involving a compact car travelling the wrong way up Groat Road, the other involving a car landing on its ejected driver.

Then on Edmonton's trendy Whyte Avenue three people were knifed and one was beaten in what was first thought to be two separate attacks a half-block and just minutes apart.

Around 2:30 a.m. Dylan Cole McGillis of Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, along with two friends, had just left a bar on the south side of Whyte and were crossing the avenue near 106th Street to get back to their car.

They then came into contact with five or six males. Words were exchanged and the male group quickly grew to more than fifteen people.

McGillis and his friends attempted to leave but were swarmed by the group.

A fight broke out and McGillis and his friends were pushed to the ground.

At one point, his female friend – who was pregnant – tried to shield him and sustained injuries in the attempt.

McGillis was led away by one of his friends, but they were followed by some of the people from the other group.

One of that group suddenly lunged forward and McGillis was stabbed in the chest. The suspect and his group then fled the scene.

McGillis was taken to the University of Alberta Hospital where was first listed in critical condition.

While quite a number of people saw the stabbing police were able to interview only a few witnesses saying, “We don’t have many people who have come forward.”

Police said at least one suspect was being sought. They later said they were looking for a number of males aged 19 to 22.

Word soon spread among McGillis' family. Relatives from Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Alberta converged on Edmonton and surrounded his hospital bedside.

McGillis died later in the day after undergoing three emergency surgeries.

He was Edmonton's 34th homicide of 2006.

The medical examiner reported McGillis died from a stab wound to the stomach.

One of his friends was badly beaten, and the pregnant woman suffered defensive knife wounds on her arms.

At almost the same time and a half-block west, a 29-year-old man was yanked from his truck and stabbed multiple times, at least once in the leg. He was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.

Police first said the two attacks were unrelated but later stated they may be looking for the same suspect or suspects in both cases.

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Dylan Cole McGillis was planning to move to Edmonton from Lloydminster to look for work and be with his pregnant girlfriend, Natasha.

Newly pregnant, Nastasha attends school in the city and was not with Dylan when he went out on the town.

McGillis and two friends had called it a night in what was to be his new hometown when Dylan was stabbed on Whyte Avenue.

On the day after his murder, twenty-five members of Dylan's family attended an emotional press conference at police headquarters.

Jeremy Wakefield, Dylan's cousin, spoke of his family's loss.

"When he smiles at you it engages you – like you have a special secret with him."

"Our family is really in turmoil because that one person who gives us that smile and makes us feel good about ourselves isn't with us."

"The loss is senseless and we will never be whole because of it."

Wakefield characterised Dylan's attackers and offered a plea that was to become the theme of the day.

"They're nothing more than thugs and cowards and only if we as a family and we as a community – everybody out there – stand up, hold hands and say 'We will not accept this' can we end it."

Greg McGillis, Dylan's uncle, described his nephew.

"Dylan was an exceptional human being who touched the lives of everyone he met. His passing has stolen his future and the future of this family."

"He was a kind of glue to this family that held it together."

"For the six-year-old nephew that idolised him like some kind of god, the grandparents whose lives he lit for for twenty years – the devastation is unbearable."

"Perhaps the greatest tragedy in all of this is that Dylan, just recently, found out he was going to be a father."

"We are requesting any witnesses to this tragic incident to please help bring these animals to justice."

At the conference, police Det. Ernie Schrieber also asked for the public's assistance.

"It was right at pub closing time and so it's our belief that there were significant numbers of people that were out there."

Schrieber indicated the difficulty police faced without a clear motive being present.

"Many times, as you know when we're dealing with homicides, the victim plays a role in terms of why the incident took place – whether they're involved in drugs or whether they brought on a fight. In this case here we're not dealing with that."

Schreiber said violence has now become the norm on Edmonton streets.

"It's not a surprise to me, and I've been here for eight years. It's something that is continuing. I don't understand it. I don't accept it. We do our best to try and solve it."

Police then commented on their new theory that Dylan's murder and the attack on the 29-year-old who was yanked from his truck at about the same time a half-block away were committed by the same party.

"It speaks to the type of people that we're dealing with. We're not dealing with somebody who simply lost his temper. We're dealing with, as was described, cowards and predators, and it's very important we get these people off the street."

Police described the attackers sought in both cases as being males between the ages of 19 and 22.

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Reaction to the seemingly random act on Whyte Avenue, coming within hours of the murder of 17-year-old Evan Grykuliak, saw city officials pressed for answers.

Mayor Stephen Mandel, aware of the signficance of public perception, tried to re-assure citizens while offering a directive.

"This is number #1 issue. People have to know the City of Edmonton is a safe city."

"We have to appeal to the court system to put some teeth into the laws that are there to deal with the kind of challenges that are being faced by cities today."

"The time has come that the courts have got to step up and begin to give the police some support when they do arrest these people who are committing these crimes."

"I think we're going to have to increase our presence in certain areas of the city with police. What those areas of the city will be, will be up to the chief."

"We have a greater number of people coming to town. There's many who are frustrated. Not everybody is benefiting as well from this [the oil boom]."

Mandel offered his own view about the type of weapon used in the weekend's murders.

"It boggles my mind that many things are settled with a knife. Knives are not a fist – and people die from it."

Premier Ralph Klein weighed in with his own views regarding the recent violence in the province's capital city and was quick to dismiss the notion that Alberta's economic fortune was at the root.

"The boom shouldn't have anything to do with knifings. Those are acts of hooliganism and you can't legislate against it."

"You can't legislate against stupidity, ignorance and violence."

"People who are hellbent to do these kinds of things are, first of all, bad people and no amount of legislation is going to stop people who are intent on doing harm to other people."

"I think the courts should be less lenient towards the very, very bad people and provide sentences that really mean something and will teach the bad person a lesson."

When Klein was the mayor of Calgary in the early 1980s he said he saw a spike in crime which eventually settled down.

In January 1982 Klein blamed "eastern creeps and bums" for driving up the crime rate in in that city.

Easy access to knives were also an issue police chief Mike Boyd pointed to in his statements to the media.

"If somebody's got a weapon with them, they're more than likely going to use it."

"I think it's quite obvious that people are carrying these knives, and if the situation arises where they want to use them, then they're going to pull them out and use them. That's how people get hurt, that's how people get killed."

Boyd then outlined what the police service intended to do.

"We're going to be identifying some of the areas in this city where this kind of behaviour is most likely to emerge."

"We're going to identify the locations, we're going to identify the days and times of the week, and we're going to be focusing our operational efforts around these areas."

The police chief invited community involvement at all levels to come up with solutions.

"I'm talking about community members. I'm talking about mothers and fathers. I'm talking about our court system and the justice system officials. I'm talking about educators. I'm talking about all of us bending down and picking up the ball and not dropping it on this issue."

While the politicians were offering their assessment, University of Alberta criminologist Bill Pitt's opinion was sought out by the Global and CTV Edmonton news teams.

Pitt said policing the availability of knives was a non-starting issue.

"We've tried to restrict firearms and you can get them anywhere in the city. So as far as trying to restrict knives that would be an even more hopeless adventure."

The criminologist said the problem of Edmonton's recent violence among youth stems from what they're seeing coming out of the judicial system.

"I think what they're creating is a geography of uncertainty in this country as to what's going to happen in the courts."

"And anytime you have that uncertainty you're going to have disorder. And when you have disorder, you're going to have more violence."

Pitt said the courts need to impose tougher sentences on young people who commit violent crimes.

"It's not all society's fault. There's an individual choice here that people are making. There's a psychology of murder."

"We have to get some truth in sentencing."

"We have to get some people on the bench who have some backbone and put these violent offenders away for a long, long period of time and protect society from them."

Pitt also said teens committing violent crimes are fearless because of the light sentences being imposed, and that the 'thrill of the kill' had become the new high – more powerful than any drug.

The only antidote, he said, is to provide a deterrent. However, the impact may take a generation to be felt.

"What we have coming up through the system right now are very unhappy, angry, thin-skinned males that are jumping – upping the ante to homicide when somebody looks at them sideways."

Pitt said he would like to see young offenders who commit murders be automatically be tried as adults, and the setting up of a Youth Criminal Justice Corrections Centre for the worst offenders.

Caught between all the experts are parents and the cop on the beat.

Global Edmonton interviewed police Cst. Maurice Brodeur who helps facilitate a group called People Against Youth Violence.

Brodeur feels the path to addressing the problem starts in the home.

"Sometimes we don't want to parent as our parents did – maybe we thought our parents were too strict. So then we want to be friends with our kids."

"That's wrong – we need to guide our kids."

After the press conference concluded at police headquarters, Dylan's family visited the site of his murder on Whyte Avenue.

A memorial was erected on the spot where the young man's life ended.

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The death of Dylan McGillis brought attention back to the ongoing rift between the Old Strathcona residents and bar owners on Whyte Avenue.

The 2001 Canada Day riot, problems stemming from Stanley Cup celebrations and ongoing weekend rowdiness have resulted in experiments with security cameras, parking bans and a stepped-up police presence.

Joanne Booth of the Strathcona Community Association spoke of the southside area as a magnet for young newcomers to the city.

"In a boom economy they've come into town and they're looking to party. So where are they going to party?"

Mo Blayways of the 22-member Old Strathcona Hospitality Association said bar owners are not to blame.

"Ultimately there's not much a bar can do to protect people on the street nor is that really a bar's responsibility to protect the citizens from the street."

For more about the debate and possible solutions to problems on the popular strip, visit the Last Link Whyte Avenue page.

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On November 22nd, 2006, three days after the murder of Dylan McGillis on a Whyte Avenue sidewalk, solutions to violence on the strip and throughout the city came from all quarters.

By the end of the day, police chief Mike Boyd had had enough and announced a plan of action.

"If not us, then who? If not now, then when?"

In a mixed show of frustration and determination, Boyd outlined a plan of attack at a public meeting of the Edmonton Police Commission at the Whitemud Community Centre.

"We're going to be doing business differently. There's going to be some re-focuing of resources and Whyte Avenue certainly will be one of the areas but there will be other areas in the city as well."

For more about the police response to problems on the popular strip, visit the Last Link Whyte Avenue page.

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On November 24th, 2006 in the bitter wind of a prairie winter, more than a thousand gathered to pay their respects to Dylan Cole McGillis at the Stockade Convention Centre in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.

Dylan McGillis was eulogized during an hour-long service. His father, Grant McGillis, told mourners that he died far too young.

"But I thank God for the time we had with him," he said.

"I ask everyone here to try and live your lives like Dylan would. We will all be more content and this world would be a much better place for it."

Jeremy Wakefield spoke of his cousin.

"He wasn't afraid to show his affections. So it doesn't matter who was around he gave his mom or dad a kiss."

"Whether it was a cousin or a grandpa, he would say, 'I love you.' That gives us some comfort knowing what he thought of us."

Describing the circumstances surrounding Dylan's death Wakefield said, "It's madness. This is absolute madness."

"Especially when you take a guy like Dylan who was a peacemaker, a really gentle kind spirit, and have stolen him away from friends and family."

Friends such as Jaydo Bott echoed Wakefield's sentiments.

"Anybody he met was touched by him. He gave everybody a chance."

She spoke of the birth of child who would not know a father, an event that may give the McGillis family some sense of purpose.

"I think it definitely gives them something to look forward to having that piece of him left."

"I can tell you that this baby will be hugged and kissed a lot," Wakefield added.

Between grieving and preparing for a funeral, family and friends formed a group called Don't You Let Another Neighbour (DYLAN) die.

"Our goal is to band together with other victims, survivors and concerned citizens who want to share their tragedies and offer support for the political lobbying that it will take to make a change in our communities," Grant McGillis said.

"The way things are going to change is to get the word out that parents have to teach their children better, laws have to be changed and neighbours have to look out for each other."

"We've got to do this so [Dylan's] life wasn't lost in vain."

"We need to have people stand together and be able to fight this senseless violence."

McGillis said he would remember his son as a gentle young man who had the gift of being able to make people laugh.

"Nothing really got him down. He always had a smile on his face. He always had time for people. We're going to miss him so deeply."

Jeremy Wakefield said the family wants to remind people that Dylan's attackers still walk the streets.

"They could do it again, and we are asking that anyone who has any information to please come forward," he said.

"I would like them to know that, heaven forbid, the roles were reversed, he would have been the first one to talk to the police or try and catch the killers. It is important that these punks get off the street," Wakefield said.

"People should be able to go out and celebrate and have a good time with friends without having to worry about their safety. In Dylan's case, he was going to his vehicle and he gets chased down and beaten viciously and stabbed."

Dylan was out celebrating the night he died after learning he was going to be a father. His child's due date is July 6th, 2007, three days after what would have been his 21st birthday.

"I encouraged the 1,000 people in attendance at this funeral that whether it is five years from now or 25 years from now, that if you cross the path of baby Dylan, take a few minutes and explain to this child how beautiful his or her dad was," Wakefield said.

"I know Dylan would have appreciated it."

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On November 26th, 2006 the Edmonton Journal published a letter written by Grant McGillis.

I've had some time to think about the escalating violence in Edmonton, particularly on Whyte Avenue. I have more time these days because I don't sleep or eat anymore.

I'm too busy mourning the loss of my beloved son Dylan McGillis, who was stabbed to death early on Nov. 19 after going out for an evening of celebration with friends.

Two weeks prior to his death, he told me that he was moving to Edmonton to be with the love of his life, Natasha.

My response was quick and to the point, "Watch out for yourself. There are so many who have no regard or respect for human life, that they will stab or shoot you without blinking an eye."

He said, "Don't worry, Dad. That won't happen to me."

For the past few days, I, my family and friends have cried rivers wondering how we can go on without Dylan.

We could write hundreds of pages here, telling what a wonderful, gentle, caring, and compassionate man Dylan was, but instead we will be writing notes and putting them in a memory box at his funeral so that some day his unborn child will know what we have all lost.

Savages have stolen someone who made this world a better place.

Judging by the public outrage to last weekend's violence, we as a society have had enough. It is time to stop the carnage.

I applaud police Chief Mike Boyd and Mayor Stephen Mandel for their suggestions about putting metal detectors, scanning programs, and more police presence in and around the bars on Whyte. I know this all comes with a cost, but I and countless others have, and will pay a much higher price by losing our loved ones.

Shirley Lowe, executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association, says she doesn't believe metal detectors would have made a difference Dylan's slaying, noting it didn't happen in a bar.

I have a question for her: Does she think the animals who beat and stabbed my son to death were just out for a stroll at 2:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning, or were they were getting an early start for church?

As for Coun. Mike Nickel's comments that the metal-detector idea is heavy-handed, I wonder if he has ever endured the pain of burying a child.

He also talks about the cost of metal detectors. I don't know if he has children, but if he has, how much is their life worth to him -- $100, $1,000, $100,000?

I am tired of hearing idiotic excuses to save money and not lives. We have to join together to stop the killing because there truly is strength in numbers.

We can't bring my son back but maybe we can save your child, sibling, parent or grandparent.

Please help the police catch these low-lifes before they strike again. Dylan's friends and family have formed an organization Don't You Let Another Neighbour Die (DYLAN) and have created a website at www.dylanmcgillis.ca. Our goal is to band together with other victims, survivors and concerned citizens who want to share their tragedies and offer support for the political lobbying that it will take to make a change in our communities.

Our sympathy and prayers go out to the other victims and their families and friends of not only last weekend's violence but to all those who have ever been touched by these terrible, senseless acts. We would also like to thank everyone who has prayed for us and are helping to bring the cowards who did this heinous crime to justice.

In particular, we would like to thank a very brave, young friend of Dylan and Natasha who, without any regard for her own safety, threw herself in front of Dylan in an effort to save him.

We would also like to thank the doctors and nurses at the U of A Hospital for their extraordinary efforts in trying to save Dylan.

Not all is doom and gloom in Edmonton. During our tragic stay we encountered many wonderful people who treated us with compassion. We truly appreciate all the prayers and well wishes.

A trust fund has been established for Dylan's unborn child. Donations to the Baby McGillis Trust Fund may be made at any Royal Bank.

Grant McGillis,
Neilburg, Sask.

On November 30th, 2006 the Edmonton Journal published a letter written by Marlene McGillis.

To the people who swarmed Dylan McGillis on the morning of Nov. 19: Now you know his name.

Maybe you didn't know there was a killer among you that night. Maybe you thought it was just going to be a fight.

The guilt you must be feeling has to be overwhelming. It is time to come forward.

I don't know what led to this senseless beating and death of my son that night. Whether it was alcohol or not, the responsibility lies with you now, as you were a part of this horrible act.

If you keep going down this path of darkness and not stand up and be accountable, you may also die in such a horrific way.

I wonder about your mother. Will she not care? Will her heart not break? Will she be willing to give up her life to bring you back for your father, brother, sister, girlfriend and unborn child?

My mind races, wishing I could have been there. You and the others would have had to beat me, for I would have defended my son -- not only because he was my son, but also this man was a gift to many people to whom he brought laughter, smiles, kindness.

It is time for you to go to the authorities. It is time to be brave and face your demons.

Go to Det. Ernie Schreiber or call him at 421-2792 or phone TIPS at 1-800-222-8477.

It is the right thing to do.

Marlene McGillis,
mother of Dylan McGillis, Lloydminster, Sask.

Following the publication of the letters, CTV Edmonton visited the McGillis family at their home in Saskatchewn.

"They took somebody away from that I loved so much."

"One of them boys – men ... they probably feel horrible. I bet you they wish they weren't there – one of them, one of them that's all [police] need."

"This person has to be accountable. I feel so horrible their family to know that their son would be able to take a life so senselessly."

"But that family has be strong, that family has to go 'we love our son enough' to come forward and turn him in, to make him a better person in society."

"If they love their children they have to be strong. Doing the right thing is hell."

"I'm glad to have known my son. And you know what – he's gone. He loved me and I know that."

"He hugged me when he left for Edmonton. 'Love you Mom. Hey, love Dad."

"He made sure that he told us."

Grant summed up the family's sense of loss.

"Dylan's life was lost. I don't want it to be to some anonymous person."

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On December 13th, 2006 Edmonton police released two photos of a woman they believe is connected to the stabbing of Dylan McGillis.

The pictures are from a Whyte Avenue bar security camera, taken November 19th – the night McGillis was fatally stabbed. It was not revealed which bar the security video came from.

Investigators hoped the woman’s pictures would lead them to suspects in the slaying.

“We need to identify this female. We believe she is a witness to the event and has knowledge of the people responsible,” said Det. Ernie Schreiber, the lead investigator on the case.

While a number of people came forward with information in the first days of the investigation, there has been little recent progress in the case, Schreiber said.

The fact the woman from the video has not come forward in the weeks since McGillis was killed leads police to believe she has some connection to the people involved, Schreiber said.

“The video puts her on Whyte Avenue in the general area. From what we have seen [on the video], she is more than a passerby,” he said.

Schreiber said the woman, who has long blonde hair and was wearing a jacket with a furry hood, is not a suspect but witnessed the attack on McGillis.

"We can't pick rabbits out of a hat. It comes down to people with a conscience, people who say 'You know what, this is over the line and I'm going to do the right thing and come forward.' "

He stressed he just wanted to speak to the woman and did not believe she had any criminal involvement in McGillis' death.

"It is very safe to say she is not in any kind of trouble," he said.

“The video footage that we have puts this female together with a group of people and we need to determine who that group of people are.”

McGillis’ anguished parent joined in the appeal for the woman to come forward.

Marlene McGillis told media-pool cameras, "I'm happy there is a step but at the same time I'm scared and sad. This is not bringing Dylan back but it's a step."

"I still have my nightmares of how he died."

Grant McGillis suggested, "Somebody knows that girl and she knows herself. This might be enough for her to come forward."

"She might look into her heart and her soul and see what she's done to us and come forward. It's time to right this terrible wrong."

“It’s frustrating to sit here and wait [for an arrest] when so many people witnessed it and not to have anybody come forward.”

“We’re making a plea to the public to search into their hearts and souls and come forward and do what’s right.”

Those with information about the incident or the identity of the woman are asked to contact Edmonton police at 780-423-4567, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.tipsubmit.com - a secure tip submission web site.

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On December 17th, 2006 friends and family of Dylan McGillis gathered on the sidewalk where he was swarmed and murdered a month before.

They held a vigil to honour the father-to-be, and to draw attention to a petition calling for mandatory minimum sentencing for those convicted of violent offences regardless of their age.

The family formed a group called Don't You Let Another Neighbour (DYLAN) die.

Standing in the bed of a pickup truck, Grant McGillis spoke to about 50 people before asking for a moment of silence.

"Those of you with children can try to imagine losing a child."

"Then multiply those feelings by a million and try to live with them for the rest of your lives."

"It all starts when kids are little. We've got to teach them the value of life."

McGillis later told the media what he hoped the gathering would achieve.

"We're hoping that what we're doing here by holding a vigil and lobbying politicians for change in our laws, that other families don't have to go what we've been going through for the last month."

"When there's no consequence for action then there's no deterrent."

"We believe that this is a start."

Attending the event was another father who suffered a loss due to violence.

Gary Hunt spoke of the pain he felt since his son Josh was stabbed to death in a Mill Woods home on October 14th, 2006.

"It's a very sad situation what we're going through."

"I wake up and the first thing I think of is my son. The minute I lay down to go to sleep it's the last thing I think of."

"I don't want anybody to go through what we're going through. I would not wish this on anybody in this world at all."

"This [the petition] is the way to change things – so that these guys think twice about taking someone's life."

Also present were the mayor and the chief of police.

Stephen Mandel spoke of the city's response to recent violence.

"We'll put more police on the street which we've done but that's not going to change a violent attitude."

"It's easy for us to sign a petition like this and walk on by. But this isn't a police or a council problem, it's a societal one."

"Don't just think of this as a one-time event. Go forward and talk to your friends, your family. We can stop this senseless violence."

Chief Mike Boyd agreed.

"Young people also, I believe, are one of the greatest helps to solving the problem."

"And we need to be reaching out to them and talking with them about the kinds of drivers that are playing out as factors in the violence that we're seeing."

Boyd acknowledged the efforts made by those touched by violence.

"Yours is the kind of collective action that's going to make a difference."

"We will not let you down. Edmontonians are telling me they're fed up. You have bent down and picked up the ball ... and your cause has been heard in Ottawa."

"We do have the tools, but we need to make sure that we are using those tools."

Boyd said he recently met with federal Justice Minister Vic Toews and discussed the rising violence on Edmonton streets.

Dylan's mother Marlene McGillis said a petition would not help bring her son back but she hoped it would prevent another death from taking place.

"This is not just homicides, this is rapes and beatings and senseless crimes in this world that we don't want anymore."

"We're strong people and with all our love we're going to do everything we can to help our grandchildren – your grandchildren ..."

"It's gonna help."

Those wishing to support the McGillis family's efforts can visit their web site at www.dylanmcgillis.ca

Grant McGillis said he hoped to present the petition to the House of Commons in March 2007.

The vigil came just days after police released photographs of a person of interest in the death of Dylan McGillis.

On February 10th, 2007 the Canada Free Press web site published a letter written by Grant McGillis, Dylan's father.

Addressed to Canadian Members of Parliament and fellow Canadians, McGillis urged readers to sign the petition at the www.dylanmcgillis.ca web site to help "put some teeth back in the sentencing process for violent offenders."

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On March 10th, 2007 hundreds of Albertans whose lives have been touched by violence gathered in Edmonton's Sir Winston Churchill Square.

They had come together to collect signatures on petitions calling for stiffer penalties under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

For rally organiser Gary Hunt, the event was the culmination of six months of work collecting signatures and keeping the issue of what he felt was needed change to the Youth Criminal Justice Act before the public.

Grant McGillis was also in attendance and called for further measures to fight violent crime.

"You know it can happen to anybody. Dylan was walking down the street. He didn't do anything, he didn't deserve anything and he's ... We'll never have him back."

“We and the other families that are here today all share a common bond. We all lost children to senseless violence and we all thought it would never happen to us.”

A week before the rally, McGillis hand-delivered a letter to federal Attorney General Robert Nicholson.

McGillis asked for dispute resolution education for youth, better rehabilitation programs, new correctional facilities to address overcrowding and adult sentences for violent youths that should be mandatory rather than left to a judge's discretion.

"Kids, when they're growing up, they're learning that it's OK to do these things and get away with it," Dylan's father Grant McGillis said.

"They're getting slaps on the wrist, and that is it."

For more about the rally, visit the Why Edmonton? A Silent March For Justice page.

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On April 21st, 2007 a "Walk in Memory of Dylan and Other Victims of Violence" took place in Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan.

Several hundred joined in the walk, including Peacha Atkinson whose daughter Nina Courtepatte was murdered in April 2005.

After the march, Grant McGillis presented local Member of Parliament, the Hon. Gerry Ritz, the first batch of petitions he has been collecting since the death of his son Dylan. Ritz was expected to deliver the nearly 25,000 signed petitions to the House of Commons in Ottawa.

The parents of Dylan McGillis, along with other victims' families, have decided to continue collecting signatures for Dylan's petition until it was felt the government has made the required changes to the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

"This message isn't going to go away and unfortunately there's going to be more and more families join us in this fight unless something's done and we can try and curb this violence," Grant McGillis said.

"If we don't do this it's going to keep going. We do this because we have to. It's not bringing our son back but it will – I promise you – it will save somebody's child down the line. So that's why we keep doing it," said Dylan's mother Marlene.

Further information about the petition is available at www.dylanmcgillis.ca.

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On May 5th, 2007 Grant McGillis, along with relatives and friends of Shane Rolston, Joshua Hunt, Dylan McGillis and Sara Easton, all teenagers killed in the Edmonton area over the past two years, gathered in the basement of Sacred Heart Church.

Together they held the inaugural meeting of the Citizens' Rights Group, an organisation whose mandate is to lobby government for improvements to the criminal justice system.

For more about their efforts, visit the Why Edmonton? Citizens' Rights Group Forms page.

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On May 24th, 2007 21-year-old Leonard Fred Halkett was stabbed to death on an Edmonton street. The Saskatchewan man had just moved to Alberta's capital city to make a new start, and his death struck a familiar chord. As part of its coverage of the Halkett murder, the Edmonton Sun's Ajay Bhardwaj contacted Grant McGillis.

The man told the Sun he had been trying to get on with his life, something Dylan would have wanted. To that end, McGillis was now reaching out to Halkett's family offering them the same advice.

“I guess [what's] helped me through [is] thinking about what my son would have wanted for me and the family,” Grant said.

“He would have wanted to see us rebound and come through this. It will be a life-long process, but that's what's helped me deal with losing Dylan so senselessly.”

"It's a sad thing, another young guy loses his life. It's sad for the family, horrible for what the family is going to go through.”

At the time of the interview, both murders had yet to be solved.

“We can't even put a face to his killer,” Grant said about his son's case. “We've pleaded, 'have some decency and morality.' Justice has to be served. Somebody has to come forward."

“Nothing's going to bring [Dylan] back. But there's a killer walking the streets and someone else's son could get hurt.”

Like many growing up in small towns, the lure of the bright lights of Edmonton and the easy money to be made there was too great to resist.

Dylan told his parents he wanted to come to the city to be with his girlfriend and raise their child.

“I had reservations about seeing him go,” Grant said.

Ironically, Dylan made the decision to move just days after three men were gunned downtown as part of the Red Light Lounge Triple Murder of October 29th, 2006.

“You don't see any of that stuff here,” said Grant, but Dylan loved Edmonton and loved going to Whyte Avenue with his friends.

“I'm positive he never saw that coming,” the father said, referring to the knife attack – something Dylan would have been unfamiliar with. After all, nothing like that happened back home.

Dylan was attacked and beaten by a group of people who didn't stop when he was down.

“When was enough enough?” Grant pondered.

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deadmonton 2006 - dylan cole mcgillis