WARNING: This story contains discussion of intimate partner violence.
Breanna Broadfoot loved flowers.
The 17-year-old loved them so much, she once told her brother Lucas that whenever her time on Earth came to an end, she wanted to be planted as one.
This week, her loved ones will spread some of her ashes among the tiger lilies in the backyard of the family’s home in London, Ont. Those, her brother said, were her favourite.
“We’re going to plant her in our backyard as a tiger lily and she’s going to be the biggest, most bright and colourful flower in the bunch,” said Lucas Broadfoot, 15, his voice wavering as he spoke to CBC News in the family home.
“She was the best sister I could have asked for.”
Across the family’s dining table, adorned with flower bouquets, Breanna’s parents, Brett and Jessica Broadfoot, said the sudden, violent loss of their firstborn has yet to fully sink in.
“We lost our baby girl to an act of horrible violence, which is very hard for me to fathom,” said Brett.
Breanna died on Thursday, two days after she was stabbed at a home in east London by a man her family says she had been dating for eight months. Another 22-year-old man was also stabbed.
Her 18-year-old boyfriend was fatally shot by police, who identified the case as being linked to intimate partner violence.
After her death, six of Breanna’s organs were donated to five different people, her dad said.
Child psychologist her ‘dream job,’ diary says
Breanna was a shining star, with a heart of gold who dreamed of helping others, her parents said.
The 17-year-old had spent her summer hanging out with friends and handing out resumés. A student at Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School, she was about to start Grade 12 and planned to attend Fanshawe College after graduation.
An entry in her diary, written in late September 2021, spells out her plans for the future.
“What is my dream job? I think my ‘dream job’ is a child psychologist (at the mo’ at least),” Breanna wrote in the entry, which was shared with CBC News.
“Helping young people/young neurodivergent women is something that would help a lot of other people — hopefully — and I want to be able to do that.”
The last time Brett and Jessica saw their daughter alive was on Tuesday — her dad left for work in the morning and she sent her mom a text at around 2 p.m. as she left for the mall to buy a gift for their anniversary the next day.
“She sent me a text saying, ‘I’m leaving now. I love you,'” Jessica said.
Shortly before 11 p.m., police rushed to 86 Wellesley Cres. for a domestic violence call involving several victims. Police located Breanna, an injured man and an 18-year-old man allegedly holding a knife.
The family was awoken early Wednesday morning by a police officer banging on their front door, Brett said. On the porch stood a forlorn-looking officer who asked him if he was Breanna’s father.
Police drove the family to Victoria Hospital, where Breanna was in the critical-care trauma centre.
The family learned she had been stabbed multiple times in the head and neck area, Brett said. Defensive wounds were also found on her hands, he said.
The 18-year-old had stabbed her and the other man, said Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which investigates circumstances involving police that result in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault.
An “interaction with police” led to him being shot and he later died in hospital, said the SIU.
The 22-year-old victim was treated and released. A third man at the home was not physically hurt.
The suspect’s identity hasn’t been released.
In an email, London police cited the SIU probe, adding “there is nothing additional that we plan to share at this time.” The SIU said it couldn’t legally identify him.
Breanna’s family also declined to provide his name, saying they promised the SIU that they wouldn’t.
The family members said they were unsure when and how their daughter had met him, but suggested it wasn’t the only violence she had faced this year and Breanna was being supported by Victim Services of Middlesex-London, which helps victims of crime or trauma link up with programs and services.
Family will carry out daughter’s wish to help others
The City of London has declared intimate partner violence an epidemic, along with femicide — the sex or gender-related killing of women and girls.
In the past month, two other death cases in southwestern Ontario have been linked to intimate partner violence: Carly Walsh and her two children in Harrow, Ont., and Cheryl Sheldon in London.
The Broadfoot family has pledged to help others — one of Breanna’s wishes. “We made that promise to her, while she was unconscious, but we know she heard it,” Jessica.
The family has also vowed to work at prevening intimate partner violence.
Lucas said the family realizes it’s important for people to be aware of the dangers.
“We need our community to come together and understand that it is a problem, an epidemic,” he said.
Brett implored the community to get involved if they know anyone, even a stranger, was being abused.
“Think of your own sister, mother, aunt, child. What would you do to protect them? Should it be any different if it’s a stranger, or a friend? I would hope not.”
Breanna’s life will be celebrated Wednesday with a visitation and funeral service at Northview Funeral Chapel. Starting at 7 p.m. ET, there’ll be a candlelight vigil that everyone in the community is invited to at Ed Blake Park.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to get help:
For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
In London, support is also available through Anova, Atlosha Native Family Healing Services, London Abused Women’s Centre, Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Centre, and Victim Services of Middlesex-London.