Local family protests death of 15-year-old

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Lexi Letawske’s family and friends gathered in front of the Fort St. John courthouse Monday morning in a peaceful protest and walk to raise sexual assault and suicide awareness.

Many family and friends of Letawske’s showed up wearing custom purple shirts to show their support.

Friends, family, and supporters walked down the road Monday morning holding a sign with Letawske’s name, birth date, the day she passed, and the words, “You Matter.”

Letawske’s grandmother, Marguerite Harrold, says Letawske took her own life on December 23rd because of a sexual assault.

She was 15 years old.

In a Facebook post, Nikki Dennis wrote, “this beautiful girl took her own life because of a PREDATOR, and the family is asking for support. Please come out and stand for Lexi Lou.”

“Don’t be silent about it. Speak up if you’ve ever been sexually assaulted. Don’t ever keep it down,” Eten, Letawske’s cousin, said.

“We’re bringing awareness to this because we don’t want it to happen to anybody else.”

Letawske spent a lot of time at Brittany Puttick’s place, who knew her well and designed the poster for the protest.

“I think a walk like this is a really important way for Lexi’s loved ones to take back some power or control in a situation where it just feels like being victimized again and again,” Puttick said.

“It’s been a really hard year without Lexi … And I think an event like today is a positive for us to get together and remember Lexi and honour her and help remind everyone of the importance of talking about things like abuse and mental health.”

The family gathered in front of the courthouse as the case briefly appeared in court on Monday. The family says they don’t want to comment on the case because the matter is before the court.