juk (jock) deng ring › deadmonton 2007 › deadmonton › edmonton

Juk (Jock) Deng Ring, 24, was shot to death May 15th, 2007.

Ring was Edmonton's thirteenth homicide victim of the year.

Case status is open and active. For the latest in this ongoing story, visit the The Delwood Double Murder page.

To his friends he was known as 'Jiggy Wiggy' and they say he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Media spoke with Ibrahim Idriss, a roommate of Ring's from their days in Windsor, Brooks and Calgary.

"He was giving [Bulgak] a ride home. I don't think they was looking for him. I don't think so. Because he doesn't have no enemies. He was a friendly guy."

Idriss and another roomate Makur Maliet said they heard about the shooting but figured Jiggy Wiggy was at home sleeping.

“We went home and Jiggy Wiggy wasn’t at home,” said Idriss.

Idriss expressed his disgust of the crime that took his friend.

"This gun shooting in Edmonton man, that's fucking crazy man. These guys do you need to stop. It's like sounds like New York now."

The verbally less colourful Maliet managed but a few words before being overtaken with grief.

"He was a good person. Was a really good person," said Maliet.

When she heard of her brother’s death, Ring's younger sister had to be rushed to hospital, Idriss added.

“He used to like being called Jiggy Wiggy Iggy Wiggy,” said Idriss, referring the man's fondness for rap. “Sorry you couldn’t make your dream come true."

Juk (Jock) Deng Ring was born in southern Sudan. He and his mother, brother and sister were taken hostage by the northern militia when he was still a baby.

Ring's father was a businessman and had enough money to buy them back. The family then fled to Egypt, applied to come to Canada and eventually settled in Ontario in 2001.

Ring left his family of four siblings and mother behind in Windsor and moved to Edmonton a few months ago. He had come west to earn cash working construction jobs in Calgary and in Brooks to send home.

On the side, Ring bought, repaired and sold old cars. He had recently been accepted to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, where he planned to go into power engineering and possibly even social work.

Ring's cousin Sidonia Arob lived with him in Brooks.

"The family has had its difficulty," said Arob. "He was a peaceful, nice guy."

She said her cousin liked to play basketball, watch movies and hang out with friends.

The death of Juk was hardest on his mother, who had now suffered the loss of a third family member since moving to Canada.

Ring's mother was still mourning the death of his brother, who was stabbed in Nashville, Tennessee, two years ago. Juk was her remaining son.

Her husband died of lung disease in 2006. Ring's mother had worn black garb for close to a year to show her mourning.

“She was preparing to wear normal clothes but unfortunately the death of her son” will force her to continue mourning, a family member said.

Ring's mother attended the service for Deng Atem Bulgak at the Shiloh Baptist Church.

Juk was laid to rest on May 26th, 2007 in Calgary.

deadmonton 2007 - juk (jock) deng ring