ManitobaThree years after Winnipeg police charged a man in the deaths of three Indigenous women, a daughter of one of the women vowed that she will continue to fight. Elle Harris told a small group gathered at an outdoor vigil in North Kildonan on Monday evening: “We should not have to fight for this.”‘The reason we hurt so much is because we love so much,’ says Elle HarrisNathan Liewicki · CBC News · Posted: Dec 01, 2025 11:57 PM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.A vigil for Morgan Harris was held in Winnipeg’s North Kildonan neighbourhood Monday, three years after police charged Jeremy Skibicki in connection with her death and the deaths of two other Indigenous women. (Jaison Empson/CBC)WARNING: This story contains details concerning the murders of First Nations women.Three years after Winnipeg police charged a man in the deaths of three Indigenous women, a daughter of one of the women vowed that she will continue to fight.“We should not have to gather for this. We should not have to fight for this. This is a basic human right. We shouldn’t be standing here doing this [on] this day, but here I am. Here we are again,” Elle Harris told a small group at an outdoor vigil in North Kildonan on Monday evening.Jeremy Skibicki was charged with first-degree murder on Dec. 1, 2022, in the deaths of Harris’s mother, Morgan Harris, 39, along with 26-year-old Marcedes Myran — both of whom were from Long Plain First Nation, 95 kilometres west of Winnipeg — and a woman given the name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, whose identity was determined in March of this year to be Ashlee Shingoose, 30, of St. Theresa Point Anisininew.Skibicki was also accused of killing 24-year-old Rebecca Contois, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation, in May 2022 and disposing of her body in a dumpster.Possible human remains found at Manitoba landfill where search underway for slain First Nations womenMurder victim Morgan Harris confirmed among 2 sets of remains found at Winnipeg-area landfillHe was found guilty of first-degree murder in all four women’s deaths and received a lifetime jail sentence, with no eligibility for parole for 25 years, in July 2024.“These were loved ones taken away from us. They have stories and a family and they deserve to be seen,” Elle Harris said.Morgan Harris’s remains were found on Feb. 26 at the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg, which brought some closure to her family and allowed them to hold a proper funeral for her.The remains of Morgan Harris were found in the Prairie Green landfill in late February of this year. (Submitted by Cambria Harris)But on this solemn anniversary, Elle fought through tears, reminding those present at the vigil that the families of Skibicki’s victims were the ones who pushed for landfill searches at Prairie Green and Brady Road, located south of the Perimeter Highway.“The reason we hurt so much is because we love so much, and that itself is a blessing hidden in disguise. We flipped what could have been something so tragic to something so meaningful, and that just proves how strong we can be as a community — how as a community we got right back up after we were kicked down time and time again,” she said.“No was not an answer we were taking, and because we were all able to come together.”‘Rush of emotions’Melissa Robinson, one of Harris’s cousins, was among those at Monday’s vigil.She said it feels different this year knowing that her cousin’s remains have been found.“The rush of emotions when you think back to the three years when we were first told about what happened to my cousin and immediately told no [to a landfill search],” Robinson said.“There’s lots of sadness, lots of anger, to here we are now full circle. My cousin is now at peace. We did what we set out to do. We said that we would ensure that her final resting place would not be that landfill.”Melissa Robinson attends a vigil in Winnipeg’s North Kildonan neighbourhood for her slain cousin, Morgan Harris, on Monday. (Jaison Empson/CBC)Robinson is pleased that the search for Shingoose’s remains at the Brady Road landfill started Monday.“I’m happy that it was us, that it was our family that pushed that boundary and never took that no for an answer, so that we were able to open up that pathway for the Shingoose family,” she said. Search of Brady Road landfill for remains of Ashlee Shingoose begins, province saysProvince plans to search Brady Road landfill for Tanya Nepinak, Manitoba premier saysThe province has previously announced plans to search the same landfill for Tanya Nepinak. Authorities searched the landfill in 2012 for Nepinak, who has not been seen or heard from since Sept. 13, 2011.Robinson believes it will get a little easier to grieve for her cousin over the years, saying “hopefully there’ll be less tears shed,” but she added it will never be easy to live with what happened to her.“We always said there was no way we could have done what we accomplished with just our family. It came down to community,” she said.The fight will persist, with Harris’s daughter at the forefront.“I am again telling [Premier] Wab [Kinew] to do better, telling the government to do better,” Elle Harris said. “We will not stop fighting. We will not give up. Until then, we deserve better than what we are getting.”WATCH | Morgan Harris honoured at vigil:ABOUT THE AUTHORNathan Liewicki is an online reporter at CBC Manitoba. He was previously nominated for a national RTDNA Award in digital sports reporting. He worked at several newspapers in sports, including the Brandon Sun, the Regina Leader-Post and the Edmonton Journal.With files from Gavin Axelrod
Manitoba woman pledges to keep fighting for murdered mother, other Indigenous women at vigil
