Clemence Beaulieu-Patry's killer guilty of first-degree murder a second time
The parents of the 20-year-old girl stabbed to death in 2016 at a Maxi grocery store are speaking out.
Clemence Beaulieu-Patry's killer was found guilty of murder for a second time on Monday and her parents believe the killing was a femicide.
On April 10, 2016, the young woman's shift was set to finish at 8 p.m., but a half hour later, as she was folding t-shirts, Randy Tshilumba walked in a stabbed her 14 times at the Maxi on Cremazie Boulevard.
"We miss her every day," said her mother Nathalie Beaulieu. "Time hasn't fully healed the suffering we feel."
Tshilumba was found guilty in 2017, but appealed the ruling, claiming he was not criminally responsible for the crime due to mental illness.
Beaulieu-Patry's parents say that reliving the details of what happened a second time was crushing.
"When you see that knife again, it makes my blood run cold," said Beaulieu.
In the most recent trial, the prosecution had new evidence, showing that Tshilumba wrote in his phone to invent a solid alibi for police.
Prosecutors also demonstrated that he had searched the Instagram profiles of Beaulieu-Patry and her friends.
The crown argued that the actions were proof the crime was premeditated.
In addition, the prosecution said that a few days before the killing, Beaulieu-Patry rejected Tshilumba's advances.
"When we realized that he didn't know her well, it wasn't a friend, we knew it was a femicide," Beaulieu said.
United Nations Women defines a femicide as "an intentional killing with a gender-related motivation," adding that it may be motivated by "discrimination towards women and girls."
Beaulieu-Patry's parents say they've learned that they have to continue living and, at the courthouse on Monday, realized Tshilumba's family was suffering as well.
"After eight years, I felt more for his family, especially his two sisters," her mother said. "They seem like nice young girls."
Tshilumba, now 27, has now been convicted of first-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.
It's a moment Beaulieu-Patry's parents have been waiting for for years.
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