With tears, anger and sadness, friends of 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor gathered at a bridge on the Galloping Goose trail to remember their friend and mark the one year anniversary of her murder.
Talena Zander, 19, choked back tears with her mother by her side, as she spoke about coming to terms with the loss of the friend she'd met in a Grade 8 metal working class at Spencer middle school.
"I think about her every day," Zander said. "I forget sometimes she's gone, and I feel like I can still call her. I wanted to invite her to my 19th birthday party."
Of the 20 people who came together on March 18, most had attended school with Proctor at Belmont secondary. Proctor, who grew up in Langford, had stayed close with her friends after enrolling in the smaller Pacific secondary school for her senior years.
"We were always on the phone. She would call for advice and to talk about boys," Zander said. "What I remember most is she was always laughing. She had a big heart."
Since Proctor's murder, Zander said she doesn't go out as much and feels nervous walking alone. "I don't like taking the bus. I can't get on the bus without picturing what they did to her," Zander said.
Two of Proctor's schoolmates at Pacific secondary, who were 16 and 17 at the time of the crime, have pleaded guilty to luring her to the younger male's house where she was raped and murdered by asphyxiation.
The next day they carried her remains in a duffel bag on a bus and to a location below the bridge crossing Millstream creek ravine, and tried to burn her body. The two Langford teens admitted to pre-planning the murder.
Melisa Hajdu, 20, had a rose and “RIP KP” lettering tattooed on her right shoulder blade. She said she misses hanging out with her friend – the sleep overs, drinking tea at Tim Hortons and shopping sprees.
“I really miss the texting. She was my best friend,” Hajdu said smiling. “We’d take turns sleeping over at my house and her house. It was the last thing we did before she went missing.”
As young offenders, the youth cannot be named in the media, but their identity is common knowledge among the grieving teens.
Tiffany-Lynn Ferris, 21, knew Proctor’s killers and said they were normal guys and gave away little to indicate future homicidal behaviour, she said.
“I wish they get sentenced as adults and spend their lives in jail,” Ferris said. “I hope they get what they deserve.”
Hajdu said if she had the chance to question the boys, she would simply ask “why?”
“She was a sweet girl and she did nothing wrong. They had no right to prey on her. I would tell them to go to hell,” Hajdu said. “I’ll be there in court on March 28 to look them in the face.”
The prison time the teens receive will depend on a judge's decision of whether to sentence them as youth or adults after a two-week hearing, beginning March 28 at Supreme Court in Victoria.
As adults, their crimes would net them life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, while a youth sentence for the same crime is maximum six years in prison followed by four years of conditional supervision in the community.
If they are sentenced as youth, their names will remain protected by a publication ban, and they will not be listed on the sexual offenders registration.
--with files from Edward Hill
news@goldstreamgazette.com