Slain Winnipeg woman remembered as caring young mother with generous spirit

The floor of Ava Zaber's Burrows Avenue apartment is still covered with bags of Christmas decorations, weeks after she was fatally shot inside her home.

Outside is a makeshift memorial, with dried flowers and the 20-year-old woman's portrait.

The young mother was always excited for the holidays, and had just taken her son, Landon, to Winnipeg's Santa Claus parade with her family days before her death on Nov. 21, said her sister, Kelsey Zaber.

Now, her family is preparing for their first Christmas without her.

"It just still doesn't make sense. Like, for something like that to happen to her is just not something we would ever think would happen," Kelsey said.

Ava Zaber was found with serious injuries on Burrows Avenue in north Winnipeg'sWilliam Whyte area in the early morning hours of Nov. 21, police previously said. She was rushed to hospital but died from her injuries.

Last Wednesday, police arrested and charged Brent Jayden Meade, 20, with second-degree murder in herdeath.

Police have said little about the investigation, but her family says she was shot inside her apartment on Burrows Avenue.

Her family said Thursday they don't want to focus on the man now accused of killing her.

"I just don't want to talk about that because I'm not idolizing them," said her mother, Donna Rusnak. "They should have no nothing coming out of my mouth."

Big dreams for future

The young mother was going back to school, and was just one credit shy of getting her high school diploma before her death.

"She had so many goals and ambitions, you know, and a life she had envisioned for them," her older sister Kelsey said.

Her son is now missing his mom immensely, said Rusnak.

"He's OK for a bit, but then he starts crying for my daughter."

Being a mother was something Ava took to naturally, and she was an active parent who was always doing something with her son, her family said.

"That little boy changed her for the better," Kelsey said.

Her family said they'll also remember her vibrant spirit and sense of humour, including the time she played a prank on her son using an Elf on the Shelf doll and a pair of scissors.

"Her son was sleeping, and she went and cut up his pyjamas and put the scissors near the elf. He was so mad when he woke up," Kelsey said.

"She was always doing stuff like that. Like when we would do Easter, Christmas, she would always make it really special for the kids and go above and beyond."

Another memory Kelsey holds close is the vacation they took together in British Columbia, where Ava convinced her big sister to jump into a waterfall despite her hesitations.

"She's like, 'Come on, let's go. We're gonna go without you.' So I ended up just jumping in and going with her," Kelsey said.

"And I'm glad I did, because I'm never gonna be able to do that with her again."

The family held a vigil for Ava outside her home following her death. Her mother estimates about150 peopleshowed up a testament to the impact she had on people.

"She's a good person. She always tried to help everybody."

Rusnak said her daughter called her every day, sometimes several times a day. She misses hearing her voice.

"She phoned sometimes just to talk, you know, for a little while and then, 'OK mom, I love you. Goodnight.'"

Now, the family is trying to pull together for the holidays.

"That's one thing that's kind of keeping me going, is just knowing that she would keep going," Kelsey said.

"She was like a go-getter she gotstuff done, you know? So it's kind of what's keeping me going."

Slain Winnipeg woman remembered as caring young mother with generous spirit

10 months ago

Duration 1:24

The family of 20-year-old homicide victim says she was a caring young mother with a vibrant spirit. Ava Zaber died after being shot on November 21 on Burrows Avenue in Winnipeg. She leaves behind a four year old son.