A woman stabbed to death in an Ottawa park was “very sweet,” a friend says

An Ottawa mother of four is being remembered as a kind, caring person whose violent death left the local community in shock and sadness.

Brkti Berhe, 36, was attacked about 11:30 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Uplands and Paul Anka drives, south of downtown and near the international airport, according to Ottawa police.

During a police media release Friday, Assistant Police Chief Trish Ferguson confirmed that two of Berhe's children were with her at Paul Landry Park when she was stabbed.

A 36-year-old Montreal man, Fsha Tekhle, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death. The police described the murder as femicide.

According to Helen Kibade, a close family friend, Berhe knew Tekhle because her aunt had recently ended a relationship with him.

Community members and sources have confirmed that images on a Facebook account show Tekhle. The account seen by CBC/Radio-Canada reporters uses a different name.

Minutes after Thursday's murder, the account posted a word in Amharic, an Ethiopian Semitic language. Translated into English, the word means “done”.

The post was timestamped at 11:40 a.m., about 10 minutes after Berhe's murder.

The Facebook account was no longer available Friday morning, before Tekhle's first appearance in court on a first-degree murder charge. Facebook says content can become unavailable if someone changes who can see it or deletes it.

CBC was unable to verify whether Tekhle owns or operates that Facebook account, whether he wrote or published the post himself on Thursday morning, or whether he had anything to do with the account's disappearance.

Kibade said she and Berhe often played with their children in the park where their friend was attacked.

“She is a very sweet girl. It broke my heart. It's very, very sad. I don’t understand it,” Kibade said, adding that Berhe had a “very nice life.” [and] Wedding.”

Tanya Pomeranz lives nearby and spoke to CBC as she visited the growing memorial in the park to lay flowers.

“I saw parents and children playing and having fun here. Chances are, I've seen them and their kids just by the way we're walking around,” Pomeranz said.

“This is a place now that is so sad and gloomy. It hurts my heart.”

“Simply terrible”

According to a social media post from River Ward Coun, trauma experts were dispatched to a nearby community center Friday afternoon. Riley Brockington, who represents the region.

“I am very sad to learn of the terrible and tragic event yesterday. Children lost their mother, brutally murdered in broad daylight, in a well-used park that many, many of our local families use and enjoy,” Brockington said in a Friday interview with Radio-Canada.

“It's just terrible news. All murders are unnecessary in this city, but yesterday's murder was particularly brutal and difficult for the community to understand and process. And a lot of people are feeling bad right now.”

Brockington said he hopes to organize a community vigil next week, Oct. 29.