The family of a man killed earlier this month is speaking out against gang violence in Regina.
Morris Poitras, 27, was found dead in the 800 block of Montague Street on Feb. 14.
Kendra Poitras remembers her son as a respectful, loving father of three daughters who got involved with a gang.
She wants those who are thinking about joining a gang to know the pain it can cause families.
“Don’t join the gang, gangs are nothing. All it is is drugs and violence,” she said.
“The hurt that my family’s going through, that I’m going through as a mother losing my son, it’s terrible. I don’t want any mother to experience what I’m going through.”
She said Morris lost a close relative, Michael Itittakoose, in 2007 when he was a teenager. Itittakoose was killed during a gang-related home invasion in Fort Qu’Appelle.
“It affected him and I always encouraged him to get grief counselling to deal with it,” Kendra said.
According to Kendra, Morris started using drugs and was a part of the Native Syndicate gang for the past three years.
She said he was trying to leave the gang and turn his life around to be more involved in his daughters’ lives.
“He was going to go to treatment, he was working with a worker from Pasqua,” Kendra said. “He was in the city and he was getting his treatment papers filled out and his next step was just to come back to the reserve and meet with the NNADAP (National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program) worker.”
Christopher Dillin Braun, 37, was charged with second-degree murder in Morris’ death.
Braun’s next court appearance will be March 5 at Regina Provincial Court.
Based on reporting by CTV's Creeson Agecoutay
