Nearly two dozen people took part in Saturday's walk for John Bird and Trina Bird. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Gone but not forgotten

Walking with a new purpose

Apr 5, 2021 | 12:32 PM

Ten years have passed since Sarah Bird received the phone call that her younger brother was hit by a vehicle.

In the early morning hours of April 3, 2011, John Moses Bird was walking along the highway on the Montreal Lake First Nation. To this day Sarah can still vividly recall the feelings she had wondering first who would be calling at such a late hour, and then the shock of the terrible news.

“I started screaming and yelling for my husband to get up….let’s go I told him,” she said.

The walkers carried signs and pictures of their lost loved ones. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

On Saturday, Bird was surrounded by family and friends, as they walked together in memory of John Bird, from the Provincial Courthouse to Little Red River Park. In years past the memorial walk was held on the reserve but due to restrictions related to COVID-19, a change of venue was required this year.

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Acknowledging the news a person had recently been charged in connection to her brother’s death, Bird said she was walking this year with a different purpose.

“Ten years is a little too long for us to wait for closure but now we finally have it and it’s good,” she said.

Jennifer Naytowhow is another one of Bird’s sisters and expressed her hope that other families dealing with unsolved cases, can look to this case and find hope.

“I encourage them very much,” she said, adding the walks do help with the healing process.

Constables Derek Simonson and Ron Myers, with the Prince Albert Police Community Policing Unit, helped provide an escort. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Over half a dozen vehicles followed slowly behind the walkers. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

John Moses Bird would have been 59 years old on Saturday. The family bought a birthday cake and had a small feast at Little Red River Park.

Meanwhile Jody Roberts, the person charged in connection to John Bird’s death, made her most recent court appearance last Thursday in Montreal Lake. The case was adjourned to May 6.

Another unsolved case

On Saturday, there were actually two people being remembered.

In Nov. 2018, Trina Bird, was shot at a residence on the reserve. She was later found by police in an abandoned vehicle off Highway 2 and pronounced deceased.

Bird’s killer has never been found, although two men were charged in connection to the gang related incident at the house, and the shooting of a 16-year-old boy who was there.

According to evidence heard in court, the shooting occurred during a drug deal gone bad. Trina had gone to the house with her common law spouse Wesley Lachance, as well as Brandon Lee Corrigal. While fleeing, Lachance carried Bird from the house to the car.

Corrigal received a two-year jail sentence after entering guilty pleas to charges of aggravated assault and possession of a prohibited weapon. In turn, Lachance received a three and a half year prison sentence for related charges. His sentence was longer due to the length of his criminal record.

The RCMP investigation continues to find the person responsible for shooting Trina Bird. Her mother Bernadine Nipshank also took part in the walk Saturday, and told paNOW she continues to hold out hope the people responsible for her daughter’s death will one day be caught.

“Somebody knows what happened,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell