Murder victim predicted own death

Edmonton Alberta's fifth homicide victim of the year predicted his own death just prior to leaving his north Saskatchewan reserve, says his aunt.

On Tuesday night, Landis Tyson Stick, 24, told his mother Connie, " 'If I go to Edmonton, I'll be coming back in a box,' " said aunt Janet Stick, who is speaking for the distraught family. "To me, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

PROPHETIC WORDS

Although his family thought he was going to Saskatoon and despite his now-prophetic words, Stick left the Onion Lake reserve Wednesday evening for Edmonton.

Around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Stick was fatally stabbed outside a downtown apartment block at 10720 104 St.

The killing remains unsolved.

Janet said her nephew was widely known as a gang member and she worried that he would run into trouble living his high-risk lifestyle.

"I personally wasn't shocked when it happened, with his involvement in gangs," she said from Onion Lake, about 50 km north of Lloydminster.

"I had tried talking to him."

"I always thought something like this would happen if he didn't quit. Maybe he offended somebody? Who knows why gangs kill people."

Stick spent most of his time in Edmonton and Saskatoon.

"He told his mom he wouldn't be back for a very long time," said Janet.

Stick borrowed $60 for a bus ticket in the days before his death, and said he was heading to Saskatoon for a court appearance, said Janet.

Police told her they found a court order in the victim's pocket, she said.

Stick recently showed his aunt a freshly written resume and told her he was looking for a job. "He told his mom he wanted to go straight, to get out of gangs and stuff," said Janet.

The family heard about Stick's death through the news media. They had been under the assumption he was in Saskatoon, said Janet. She's not sure why he would have headed for Edmonton instead.

"This is a small community. Rumours were already going around, and we didn't know," she said.

It wasn't until noon Friday that police told her officially that Stick had been killed.

She volunteered to tell her sister Connie - Stick's mother - about the death.

A MOTHER'S ANGUISH

"How do you think a mother feels when she's told her oldest son is dead? She was crying ..." said Janet.

The victim had five younger siblings, age 10 and older.

He had two children of his own who live with an ex-girlfriend. "(His ex was asking) what happened. I couldn't answer her questions because I had my own questions that needed answering."

Police continue to investigate. They had not released notice of any charges by press time last night.