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Beverly Parker, 49, was strangled to death February 29th, 2008.

Parker was Edmonton's fifth homicide victim of the year.

Keshroy Hillary Bristol, 18, and Delmy Concepcion Vega-Medrano, 19, were charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Bristol was Parker's son; Vega-Medrano was his girlfriend.

A 49-year-old woman was found lying face down in the snow in front of her Cedar Wood Court condominium at 1828 Lakewood Road South at about 12:13 a.m. February 29th, 2008.

For the next 24 hours police weren't sure if they were dealing with a suspicious death or Edmonton's latest homicide.

After receiving treatment by paramedics at the scene, the woman was rushed to the Grey Nuns hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

At first police secured the area for processing by forensic technicians. They later thought that foul play was not the likely cause of the woman's death and they pulled down their crime scene tape.

An autopsy performed later in the day was expected to close the case as non-criminal but instead police returned to the scene to investigate further.

The identity of the woman and her cause of death were not initially released but media reported the woman was Beverly Parker, a mother who lived with her two sons – one 14 years old and the other 18.

It was also reported police supervised Parker's husband as he moved out of the townhouse in the summer of 2007.

Investigators continued to class the woman's death as suspicious until later on March 1st when they confirmed the case of Beverly Parker as a homicide, citing strangulation as the cause of her death.

Police said Parker was not known to them and her murder was not considered gang or drug-related. They revealed it was a family member who called paramedics and investigators did not believe she had been lying there for any extended period of time. Parker was fully clothed when found.

While there was no word about possible suspects, police maintained a constant presence at the townhouse.

On March 3rd, 2008 police charged Keshroy Hillary Bristol, 18, and Delmy Concepcion Vega-Medrano, 19, with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Bristol was Parker's son; Vega-Medrano was his girlfriend. The young couple's 10-month-old child was placed in the care of Childrens' Services.

Homicide Det. Bill Clark said Parker's younger son, who is 14, was in the house at the time of the slaying and it was he who found his mother outside.

"We believe this to be a planned event. They subsequently surprised Beverly Parker when she came home and Beverly was strangled to death," Clark said.

The detective said Parker was attacked at about 11:00 p.m. late February 28th.

"There were obviously a lot of issues surrounding what led up to this event and that's something of course I can't talk about now but it will come out in court. But there were a lot of issues going on in the house that obviously a lot people were not aware of."

The charges were laid after investigators spent numerous hours conducting interviews over the previous two days. Police said while they have determined a motive and recovered a weapon they also weren't sharing that with the public at this time.

On March 4th, 2008 Keshroy Bristol and Delmy Vega-Medrano made their first appearance in Provincial Court. Their matter was set over to April 4th.

For Bristol, the courtroom was a sea of familiar faces as family members filled the gallery.

Outside court Bristol's family spoke at length with Crown prosecutor Anne Schutte. They were visibly upset and were overheard asking questions about the charge and possible legal ramifications.

Invitations to speak with media were declined by the family.

Neighbours told media Beverly Parker was a friendly and attractive-looking woman who worked hard for a living – holding down two jobs.

Co-workers said she was employed as a caregiver at Shepherd's Care Centre, at 6620 28 Avenue, and the Allen Gray Continuing Care Centre, at 5005 28 Avenue. Parker was said to have walked to her various shifts from home.

"She always was very pleasant," Ann Royan told Global Edmonton. Royan has lived in the area for 28 years and while she was not a friend of Parker's she said the woman always stopped to say hello.

Royan described later meeting one of Beverly's sons.

"I went up to him and hugged him and I said 'I'm really, really sorry about your mom' and he said 'Thank you very much.' "

"He said 'I never said hello to you and I'm sorry for that.' "

"It's a real shock, a real shock. I've been shaky all day because of it," Royan said.

When asked if she felt safe, the woman said: "No. Not if something happened to her that shouldn't have. Not at all."

Some of Parker's immediate neighbours told of frequent yelling and screaming coming from the woman's house. However, none reported hearing a commotion the night the woman was found dead.

"A lot of times, the boys were fighting when she wasn't home," one neighbour said, while another said he saw Parker's husband often going to the house although he didn't live there.

Beverly Parker's funeral was set to take place March 10th, 2008.

deadmonton 2008 - beverly parker