‘Enough with the silence’: Families rally in Saskatoon for domestic violence awareness

(Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

Grieving families, friends, and allies marched from Howard Coad School to the Saskatoon Police Service headquarters on Saturday morning to advocate for victims of domestic violence.

“Today we’ve gathered six families walking. We’re walking with broken hearts to bring change. We don’t want to lose anybody else. It’s time that we’re not silenced,” Cathy Brown, mother of the late Nykera Brown, said.

A sea of signs, purple T-shirts and banners highlighting the names and faces of domestic violence victims filled the street as the march began.

“Today I’m thinking about my daughter Nykera. She was murdered two years ago. And I will say murdered, even though she never received her justice through the court system. So that’s who I’m honouring today,” Brown said.

Twenty-year-old Nykera Brown was found dead in November of 2022 from a single gunshot wound to her head. After the three-week-long trial of Nykera Brown’s boyfriend, Andrew Rosenfeldt, in January, Rosenfeldt was acquitted of his second-degree murder charge.

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This decision came as an immense disappointment to the Brown family, who were present throughout the entire trial. Now, five months after a judge handed down a decision regarding her daughter’s death, Cathy Brown is sharing her frustration with the court system.

“It’s not just them, it’s every victim. Today in Canada, no victims are getting the justice they deserve. Victims’ families are being silenced in court. We’re to sit there and be quiet and watch them dehumanize our babies over and over and over again while the accused has all the rights,” Brown said.

Alongside Brown was Andrea Naytowhow, who is also too familiar with the pain of losing a daughter to domestic violence.

“I’m honouring Melissa Bear and Baby Bear, who were taken in 2023. And I believe in her case as well, she hasn’t received justice,” Naytowhow said.

Thirty-three-year-old Melissa Bear was eight months pregnant when she was killed in August of 2023. While the courts deemed Cary Daniel Bluebell responsible for Bear’s death, Bluebell pleaded guilty to manslaughter as opposed to second-degree murder. This resulted in a 15-year sentence for Bluebell, who had been previously ordered by the courts to have no contact with Bear.

“It breaks my heart for these families and us coming together. It only creates our message to be stronger, and we won’t stop....These women out here, they’re going to be heard. They’re going to be heard from now on and from today and forever,” Naytowhow said.

Naytowhow added that while the bond between the families in attendance was forged in grief and pain, they have formed a strong community that is based on supporting one another and seeking change.

“There are a lot of women who are silenced. And we grew as a family. This is our family here. And the ones who aren’t here, and we pray for them,” Naytowhow said.

Cathy Brown emphasized that the group is also working to help those experiencing domestic violence and offer safe spaces for victims to speak out.

“If you are scared or need help, we’re listening. Reach out on my Facebook, Cathy Brown. You can reach out to me if you need to feel safe, I’m listening. Enough with the silence,” Brown