Deidra Ann Smith: Vigil for Justice

On April 30, there will be a virtual vigil for Ashley Simpson and other women who have been murdered or who are still missing in our country. Nearly every month, I am contacted with stories about these women and I would like to include as many as possible as part of the vigil. If you have a story you would like to share, please contact me at rosalita54@gmail.com

On New Year's Eve 2017, Deidra Ann Smith and her boyfriend Justin Robichaud had much to celebrate. Deidra, a mother of three, felt her life was finally getting back on track after years of struggle. The couple decided to throw a party and invited the neighbours to their basement apartment in St. Catharines for a party.

Later, in the wee hours of the New Year, the neighbour returned and bludgeoned the couple. Their bodies were transported 300 kilometres to Haliburton where they were lit on fire; the remains were covered with branches and abandoned. Her family filed a missing person's report on January 24. Three days prior, a woman walking her dog discovered the bodies. 

I'll let her sister Tasha Davidson tell the story from there. 

It happened in Jan 2018. She was missing for only 21 days but as I’m sure you can imagine, it felt like a life time ago. We had weekly protests in front of the St Catharine’s court house all summer long. It was covered by The Standard and CHCH news as well as a few local radio stations. 

My sister and her boyfriend were murdered in a double homicide in their own apartment while they slept by the tenants upstairs. They killed them by hitting them in the head with a hammer and then rented a car and  took their bodies and their belongings and stopped in Toronto to pawn their belongings. They then drove three hours away and set their bodies on fire. Some poor soul found them 21 days later walking her dog up in Haliburton.  

You can find stories on the case but what you won’t read is how the Crown and Justice system failed in the worst way. It’s a long drawn out case and in the end, out of the three accused, one is walking around on a two-year probation for being an accomplice. The other two just got sentenced this past summer and one is out this November and the third will be out next November.  The Crown made a huge mistake and ended up getting accused of abuse of process and they ended up giving all three deals. 

The original two counts of first degree murder and two counts of indignity to human remains was eventually dropped down to two counts of manslaughter. That’s it. What they did to my poor baby sister after wasn’t even given a second glance.   

The sentencing judge had the power to go against the deal and give more time than the proposed 6.5 years but chose not to. Canadian justice needs to do better. We have gone to our MP and he was supposed to speak with the Minister of Justice. We have yet to hear from him. I pray they do better for Ashley. Our loved ones deserve more than what they endured in their final moments .  #justicefordeidrasmith #justiceforashleysimpson #iammysisterskeeper #justiceforkatrinablangdon #betheirvoice