Family of 8-year-old Edmonton girl who died by homicide hoping for justice

Updated: On Sept. 22, 2023, Edmonton police said two more men had been arrested in relation to the death of an eight-year-old girl in April. Shayden Lightning, 21, and Raighne Stoney, 36, have each been charged with accessory to murder and indignity to a dead body.

The family of an eight-year-old girl who died by homicide and whose body was found in Maskwacis, Alta., are hoping she receives justice.

The Edmonton Police Service confirmed on Tuesday that the girl died from blunt impact trauma. Her death has been declared a homicide.

On Saturday, the child's remains were found on the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, about 85 kilometres south of Edmonton.

Three people have been charged in the girl's murder including 66-year-old Edward Nievera, who has been charged with accessory to first-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.

A 27-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder and indignity to a dead body. A 25-year-old man has also been charged with accessory after the fact to murder and causing indignity to a dead body.

According to court documents outlining Nievera's charges, between April 22 and April 23, Nievera allegedly assisted the 27-year-old woman, knowing that she had killed the girl, with the purpose of enabling her to escape. 

The charges also allege Nievera transported the child's body in a hockey bag to an unknown location. 

Police say all three people were known to the girl.

A publication ban is in effect. Neither the victim nor the two other people charged can be identified.

Last week, EPS west division patrol officers went to a residence in the area of 87th Avenue and 165th Street to do a welfare check on a child, police said.

When they were unable to locate the child, an investigation was launched. Homicide detectives became involved the next morning and two adults were charged on Thursday. 

'She did not deserve this'

Family members of the girl have expressed their devastation and say they are doing everything possible to get justice for her.

"I want to call her an old soul but she was a different kind of soul. She was loving, caring. She was a protector," the girl's aunt told CBC on Thursday.

The aunt said she wants to see the people responsible for the girl's death held accountable, and for people to remember the victim for the kind of person she was.

"She was a child and she did not deserve this … I want her name to be remembered because of who she was, not what happened to her," the aunt said through tears.

Previously the victim's grandmother told CBC that the family has been broken since her death and she could not wrap her head around why this happened. 

The aunt said the child was deeply loved and they are working to keep her memory alive.