Hundreds of people packed into a community centre on Wednesday evening to pay their respects to the family of a slain teenager.
Religious leaders, local politicians, and dozens of youths attended the services and offered their support to the boy's mother and older brother.
"As a young student it really touches me, it really touches me because it could happen to anyone," said Hamzeh Abu-Hijleh.
The mayor of the Verdun borough, Jean-Francois Parenteau, said the story touched him because he has a teenaged son.
"It could have happened to my son," said Parenteau. "But we cannot react with anger, what we have to answer with, we have to answer with love."
The MNA for Verdun, Isabelle Melancon, said the night was for grieving the loss of a young man.
"I'm a mother and I know how it's important to be all together if we lost our children," said Melancon.
The body of the 17-year-old boy was discovered Monday morning in a wooded area near De Gaspé St. and two teenagers are facing charges of second-degree murder.
Because the suspects are minors, Canadian law prohibits the publication of the name of the victim.
This is the second murder of a teenager on Nuns' Island in two years.
A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in a brawl in October 2016, although nobody has been convicted of that crime.
Mourad Bendjennet of the Al Jazira Islamic Cultural Centre said people on Nuns' Island need more constructive ways to spend their time.
"We have a lot of work to do. This is an alarm signal, the second one so we have to work hard for that," said Bendjennet.
