Balloons released in memory of Prince Albert family members killed in brutal attack last year
- Fraser Needham | April 07, 2021
On a sunny afternoon, six-year-old Kendrah was running around outside the Lake Country Co-op in Prince Albert helping her grandfather and mother distribute balloons as part of an event.
Just a year ago, the young girl was one of the victims of a savage home attack that left her seven-year-old brother Bentlee and grandparents Sandra Henry and Denis Carrier dead.
Henry and Carrier were both 56.
She was a long-time employee of the co-op and Lake Country put on the event to provide some sense of closure to the Carrier family and co-op employees who worked alongside Henry.
Balloons were sold at $5 apiece with proceeds going to the Carrier family.
About 300 balloons were released into the air at 1:30 p.m.
Corey Ferchoff is the maternal grandfather of the children.
“There was not much closure for that side (Carriers) of the family,” he said. “The co-op members, I talked to a few of them, there wasn’t much closure there either. One minute they’re working with Sandra, the next minute she’s not there. So, for them, it was very important for the co-op to put this on, to represent that side of the family.”
Kendrah suffered severe lacerations to her neck and was in an Edmonton hospital for weeks last spring but has recovered well in the year since.
Her mother Heather Sumners said the young girl is a real source of inspiration in what has otherwise been a dark time.
“She’s been our rock, our hero, she got the nickname ‘one tough cookie’ for a reason,” she said.
Harold Mulholland is the produce manager at Lake Country Co-op and one of the organizers of the event.
He said Henry was a popular employee who was liked by everyone.
“She was a beautiful person, she touched everybody’s hearts,” he said. “So, it’s been rough on us as a team as well as a community. Especially the horrific way that herself, her husband and her grandson passed on.”
The children’s father and Henry and Denis Carrier’s son, Nathaniel Carrier, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
He was living at the home at the time of the attack.