Family of woman allegedly murdered by her partner raising funds for domestic violence victims

After a woman's murder, her family is raising money for domestic violence victims with a ball hockey.

Devon Watt says the reminders of their sister Kelsey are everywhere.

“We grew up in this community (Hemmingford, Que.) so it’s inescapable. It’s the constant thought that I don’t have her anymore,” they told CTV.

Kelsey Watt, 29, went missing in September 2024. After a days-long search her body was found in a wooded area near her home.

“During the search I think I slept maybe 10 hours at most,” recalls Watt. “I trekked through ditches and waterways to walk the whole property to try to find her.”

Kelsey’s fiancée, Nicolas Gravel, was charged with murder and is currently awaiting trial.

Now, Watt is honouring their sister by creating hockey helmet stickers featuring “K29” and a white ribbon. The number commemorates the age Kelsey was when she died.

Funds from the sales will go towards SOS Violence Conjugale, a non-profit that helps victims of domestic abuse.

“Anything that we can do to speak up and speak out is a good thing,” says Watt’s mother Debbie Beattie. “We can’t live behind closed doors anymore.”

Watt got the idea from similar commemorative stickers used in professional hockey leagues. They have been playing since they were young and Kelsey was usually cheering them on in the stands, “defending me even if I was wrong.”

In just the first 24 hours, $2,500 came in.

Watt felt the stickers was an appropriate way to combat a feeling of helplessness after Kelsey’s death.

“I felt incredibly powerless through all of it,” they told CTV. “So doing something like this is a way to bring my power back a little bit.”

Hemmingford’s ball hockey tournament will be renamed the Kelsey Cup in her honour and her family says they are trying to keep Kelsey’s spirit of trying to help others alive.

Beattie recalled, “after all this happened Chris (Beattie’s husband) and I said to ourselves, ‘we’re going to tear down Kelsey’s house’ because we couldn’t stand to look at it, but we were contacted by two people that needed help and a place to stay. I said ‘this is the right thing to do. This is what Kelsey would want us to do to help these people.’”

Watt says in addition to raising funds, they want spread awareness of signs of domestic violence. They could include a person withdrawing from friends and family, refusing to speak about their relationship or feeling the need to constantly seek permission from a partner.

More information can be found here: Intimate partner violence, conjugal violence, domestic violence... what are we talking about ? — SOS violence conjugale

“I didn’t know how to recognize the specific signs,” said Watt, “educating myself after all this happened and looking back now they’re so obvious. I hate that I didn’t notice more and I don’t want anybody else to suffer. I don’t want family members to feel like I do now, that I should have seen more things or recognized more.”

“Don’t live in fear,” added Beattie, “there are places to go and there are frontline workers that want to help you.”

SUPPORT NETWORK

Victims of domestic violence can contact SOS violence conjugale at 1-800-363-9010.

Other resources:

• Federation des Maisons d’Hebergement pour Femmes
• Shield of Athena
• Espace Sans Violence
• Regroupement des Maisons Pour Femmes Victimes de Violence Conjugale
• Centre de Solidarite Lesbienne