Remembering Fredy Villanueva, 15 years after his death

It’s been 15 years to the day since the death of Fredy Villanueva. The Montreal teenager was killed by a police officer on Aug. 9, 2008.

“Fredy and his family will never get justice, that’s what the Quebec justice system decided,” says Alexandre Popovic, the spokesperson of the Coalition Against Police Repression And Abuse. Advocates like Popovic say they’re still waiting on justice for his family.

Villanueva arrived in Canada alongside his family on refugee status from Honduras at the Age of 10.On the day he was shot and killed, he was alongside his brother and others who had been playing a game of dice. Officers Jean-Loup Lapointe and Stéphanie Pilotte say after they tried to break up the game and arrest Dany Villanueva, an altercation ensued, resulting in Fredy’s death. No criminal charges were laid.

“If Jean-Loup Lapointe didn’t wear his police uniform that day, he would have been charged in a matter of minutes.He only got off because he was wearing a police uniform. That’s what save him,” says Popovic.

The day after the teen’s death, a vigil in Montreal North turned violent. Several cars were torched, and looting was widespread. A police officer was shot in the leg. Villanueva’s death and the ensuing riots brought attention to longstanding social issues in Montreal North — such as racial profiling and poverty — which authorities had failed to address for years.

Protestors hold posters at a march in memory of Fredy Villanueva on the first anniversary of his death in Montreal, Sunday, August 9, 2009. About 500 people took to the streets of Montreal Sunday to mark the one-year anniversary of a fatal police shooting that sparked a night of rioting in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

READ MORE: Artist behind Fredy Villanueva mural hopes it brings family some peace, happiness

Family and advocates have continually asked that a memorial paying tribute to Villanueva be erected in Montreal North, where he died.

More than a decade after his death, a memorial paying tribute to Villanueva in Montreal North where he died was never erected, but they did name this park Place de L’espoir or place of hope in English. Where the plaque mention Fredy and the August 2008 events.

A mural was created last year in the city’s Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough showing Fredy painted with Angel wings, painted by artist Monk.e

For Ricardo Lamour, the curator of the mural, more needs to be done.

Ricardo Lamour, the curator of the mural in memory of Fredy Villanueva, says more needs to be done. (Felisha Adam, CityNews Image)

“I think that if we see all the other tragedies that have followed after Fredy Villanueva, I’m talking about Ronny Kay, Bony Jean-Pierre, Pierre Coriolan, Nicholas Gibbs. I’m wondering what has really changed. Has a police officer faced time in jail for taking someone’s life?” questioned Lamour.

Popivic highlights that since the BEI or Quebec’s Office of Independent Investigations began in 2016 “there have been 49 people, 49 citizens who have been killed by the police in Quebec. So the killings, the shootings continue, those 49 people killed by the police and no charges have been laid.”

Lamour says the story of Fredy is one that is tragic on many levels and countinues to be felt even 15 years after his death.

He says the Fredy’s family have still not gotten the justice they deserve. “There was carelessness shown by the lawyers who were defending the family,” says Lamour. The Villanueva’s case against the officers involved could not be heard following a public inquest into Fredy’s death, as the lawyers representing them did not file the needed paper work in time, Lamour adds.

“Let’s not forget, city officials refused the family’s request for a memorial park,” says Lamour.

For him, not much has changed in the issues facing racial profiling.

“The racial profiling is still pretty heavy here in Montreal North. So the fact that a lot of things haven’t changed is unacceptable,”

For Cassandra Exumé of Hoodstock the feeling is the same, she says, with cases of racial profiling mounting, stories like Fredy’s continue to happen.

“Let’s make that a society problem and not just go and just wait five years, come back to Montreal North you know, it’s been 20 years. Let’s do something every day, every month, every year to prevent these types of situations from happening again,” Exumé added.