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About 100 people gathered together on a windy Thursday evening in Regina to pay their respects to Dendrae Thunder Lonechild at a candlelight vigil.
The 16-year-old boy was hit and killed by a vehicle in the area of 13th Avenue and Garnet Street in the Cathedral neighbourhood on Sunday at about 1 a.m.
The vigil Thursday was held on 13th Avenue between Garnet and Cameron streets.
Lonechild grew up in Cathedral and attended Sheldon-Williams Collegiate.
The people who gathered were encouraged by members of Lonechild’s family to honour his memory by creating messages with chalk on the street and near the steps of Holy Rosary Cathedral.
Messages of well wishes created by friends, family and people who attended a candlelight vigil for Dendrae Thunder Lonechild on April 27, 2023. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)
“I’m absolutely devastated from what happened,” said Almer Standingready, Lonechild’s 18-year-old cousin.
Standingready was very close with Lonechild, and the two attended high school together.
“He was joyful (and) a really good kid,” Standingready said. “He always went to class, always (showed) up to school every day — (he was a) really nice guy (and he) was fun to hang out with.”
Like the rest of Lonechild’s family, Standingready wants answers on how Lonechild died.
Standingready said that as of Thursday, the family hasn’t got any updates on the circumstances of Lonechild’s death.
The Regina Police Service has said the collision wasn’t a hit and run — the driver involved stayed at the scene after the crash — but it’s unclear whether the driver will face charges.
The life of Dendrae Thunder Lonechild was honoured through song and dance near Holy Rosary Cathedral on April 27, 2023. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)
In the meantime, Lonechild’s friends and family will remember the teen.
“He was a really good guy, just an honest, decent guy. He was always there to talk to you (and was) just a nice dude in general,” said Logan Rostad, one of Lonechild’s friends and another student at Sheldon.
During Thursday’s vigil, Lonechild was honoured with a pipe ceremony as well as through song and dance.
Lonechild’s friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help his family pay expenses.