‘Nothing will ever be the same’

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This article was published 31/07/2019 (1931 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Wednesday, Jessica Pennock found out the baby she’s expecting in December will be a girl. She’s already chosen the name — Roberta — after the baby’s father, who was recently slain in a random attack on Sherbrook Street.

Robert Christian Donaldson, 51, was stabbed to death on the evening of June 7; police have charged a 34-year-old man with second-degree murder.

The accused, Rodney Byron Williams, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 2006 fatal stabbing of a man at Hollow Water First Nation and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, minus time served, in 2009.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me at all,” said Pennock, who met Donaldson nearly three years ago.

“We were just beginning to have our lives together and were planning to get married,” she said during an interview Thursday at the spacious suburban Winnipeg bungalow they shared. It’s now up for sale.

It was a blended family, with Donaldson and his 12-year-old son; Pennock and her six-year-old daughter; and 18-month-old Mika, the couple’s first child together.

“Because of this senseless act of violence, nothing will ever be the same,” she said.

Now Donaldson’s son is living with an aunt, and Pennock is left to raise two young daughters, with a third on the way.

“It’s been hard just getting up in the morning,” said the outreach worker, who is on leave from the North End Women’s Centre. “I wake up and try my best to do what I need to do.”

Pennock has already handled more trauma than most, surviving human traffickers, addiction and a suicide attempt that left her in hospital with broken bones. Her family has always been there for her and now she has support from Donaldson’s family and the community, she said.

On Sunday, several are coming over to help her sort and pack, in preparation for the sale of the house, where several pairs of Donaldson’s shoes remained in a row near the back door.

With all the grief, turmoil and upheaval, her main focus is making sure people know who was lost.

“He was such a wonderful man,” Pennock said, with Mexico vacation portraits of the pair on display nearby. “He meant so much to so many people.”

Donaldson coached his son’s football team and had a small business doing yard work and maintenance, she said. “He was so dedicated to his family and his mother… We don’t want him to be forgotten.”

Pennock said she’s still struggling to understand how a convicted killer was free to allegedly kill again.

“He shouldn’t have been out… Where’s the supports for him or the counselling?” Pennock said. “There needs to be more programs and rehabilitation so things like this don’t happen.”

At her request, a friend who was with Donaldson when he was fatally attacked told Pennock what he saw: “I wanted to know what happened.”

Her “big teddy bear” of a spouse loved football but not fighting, and struggled to get away from his attacker, Pennock said. “It was horrific.”

Donaldson’s sister also remains outraged.

“It’s a very disappointing and maddening situation to know this could never have happened and it did. Why did it happen, and where’s the safety net for things like that?” Ryon Aitkenhead said.

Even if the accused had served his time for the 2006 manslaughter, he shouldn’t be released without making sure the public is protected, she said.

“How do you monitor that? They serve their time, but what about rehabilitation, and slowly reintegrating them? He spent time in prison, but that doesn’t mean you’re rehabilitated.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca