‘Awful thing to do to someone’: family of homeless woman set on fire seeks justice By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022

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This article was published 03/10/2022 (813 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As they demand justice, relatives of a 41-year-old woman who died weeks after being set on fire in Winnipeg are urging people with information to come forward and help solve the homicide.

Before she died Aug. 20, Melissa Cook told a former partner her legs had been doused with an accelerant and set ablaze when she was attacked over a $1,500 drug debt in late June, her daughter said.

“That’s such an awful thing to do to someone,” Naturelle Cook said in a tearful phone interview Tuesday. “I feel very sad for her because my mom didn’t deserve that at all. It hurts me and my siblings because we didn’t think we would lose our mom that early.”

She described her mother as a “kind, generous, loving… She was a very good person. She loved her kids, she loved her grandkids.”

Cook, who was homeless, spent time at Siloam Mission and in the South Point Douglas neighbourhood, according to city police. She may have lived in inner-city encampments.

Cook was scared she would be attacked again if she sought help for her severe burns, her daughter said.

The woman lived with her injuries for about a week before notifying staff at a city shelter. She later died in hospital.

“She told my dad it was very agonizing. She said she had no feeling in her legs,” said Naturelle Cook, 18. “She said it felt like the legs weren’t hers.”

No one had been charged, as of Tuesday.

City police want witnesses or people with information about the homicide or any similar incidents to contact detectives.

“She told my dad it was very agonizing. She said she had no feeling in her legs… She said it felt like the legs weren’t hers.”–Naturelle Cook

Cook was from Sapotaweyak Cree Nation, about 550 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and had been in the capital city since April, said police.

She struggled with meth addiction, and became homeless while in Winnipeg, said her daughter.

Investigators believe Cook suffered the burns in late June/early July.

She was reluctant to divulge information when shelter staff asked questions about her injuries and offered help, including new shoes and walking equipment.

Police have said they don’t know where the attack occurred. Her family also isn’t sure of the location.

The assailants “tortured and tormented her,” while threatening to “make her one of the missing,” her daughter said. (The threat was an apparent reference to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.)

Tuesday was the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTTQ+ People.

Cook was in good spirits when her former partner visited her in hospital, but her condition later worsened, said her daughter.

Cook was admitted to the intensive care unit at Grace Hospital, and later moved to Health Sciences Centre, where she underwent skin grafting.

While at HSC, an infection spread through her body and to her organs, said her daughter. Family members travelled to Winnipeg to be at Cook’s bedside.

“She was in a coma. Her body was shutting down,” said Naturelle Cook.

On Aug. 20, the family agreed to end Cook’s life support, following a conversation with HSC staff.

“The doctor said, ‘I’m sorry, but your mom’s already gone,’” she said. “The doctor said the burns on her legs were the most horrible he has ever seen.”

After making the decision, loved ones were given some final moments with Cook. They shared memories while gathered around her bed. She died about 10 minutes after life support was removed, said her daughter.

“It just hurt me a lot, seeing her like that,” said Naturelle Cook.

Police became involved Aug. 25, when the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, which was announced at a news conference Monday.

Cook was buried Sept. 8 in Sapotaweyak.

Echoing the police appeal, Naturelle Cook encouraged people with information to contact investigators.

“We are still mourning. We can’t believe her life was tragically taken,” she said. “We just want justice for our mom.”

Police have received several tips from the public since Monday’s appeal, said spokesman Const. Jay Murray, adding WPS plans to hand out posters in the areas Cook frequented.

Anyone with information is asked to call the major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or CrimeStoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

“We are still mourning. We can’t believe her life was tragically taken… We just want justice for our mom.”–Naturelle Cook

Describing Cook’s death as a “tragedy,” Jason Whitford, president and chief executive officer of End Homelessness Winnipeg, said many people in the inner city have been affected.

“It deeply impacts the service providers and the front-line staff,” he said. “Within the unsheltered population, there is a sense of community. They care for each other and love each other, and they protect each other.”

Winnipeg has logged 41 homicides in 2022, three shy of the annual city record set in 2019.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching