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WARNING

Erin Anne Tilley, 27, was shot to death December 7th, 2007.

Tilley was Edmonton's thirty-second homicide victim of the year.

Case status is open and active.

latest update | profile and reaction | funeral | eerie parallel | wall of silence

Gunfire erupted between two cars in the city's west end after it was thought at least two groups first exchanged words outside the Empire nightclub at West Edmonton Mall.

At about 2:45 a.m. December 7th, 2007 a car pulled onto the Royal Alexandra Hospital emergency driveway with a young woman inside dying from several bullet wounds.

Hospital security and paramedics helped the woman into surgery – but she had already succumbed to her injuries. The female driver of the car wasn't injured. She also wasn't co-operating.

Homicide detectives investigated whether the incident was sparked by a dispute on a parking lot of the world's biggest mall ...

... which lead to two vehicles travelling back downtown on 95th Avenue with shots being fired from one car into the other.

A 911 call had come in reporting the shots were fired between what were initially described as a white car and a blue car at the intersection of 95th Avenue and 156th Street.

It was the second car, actually black in colour and displaying an Enterprise Rent-a-Car sticker on its rear bumper, that later showed up at hospital. Seen in a police garage, the vehicle's passenger window showed evidence of having been shot out.

Police cordoned off the intersection for several blocks in all directions for most of the day, looking for anything that would lead them to those responsible for the shooting.

"Our investigators are currently interviewing the second female, but so far have received very little cooperation and we've not positively identified the deceased at this point," a police spokesman said.

"At this point one of our top priorities is to locate that second vehicle. Unfortunately, the description is somewhat short."

"A tough challenge is the lack of light when the witness called in the report. That's why we need anyone who was in that area between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. to call police," the spokesman added.

When asked by media if there were drug or gang ties to the homicide the police spokesman said: "We certainly haven't ruled it out," cautioning that could change.

"The altercation at West Edmonton Mall was dealt with there and we were not notified."

"So Edmonton Police Service would have no inolvement with whatever altercation might have occured at West Edmonton Mall so that's why investigators are taking a look at a look at it now – we had no previous involvement," the police spokesman told reporters.

The Edmonton Journal interviewed Ferhat Kenez, a second-floor tenant in an apartment building near the intersection where police believed the shooting took place. Kenez was almost asleep when he heard the shots but he wasn't exactly sure of what the sounds represented.

"I heard the gunshots, there must have been three or four of them, and then I was up all night," he said. "It didn't sound right. It didn't sound normal."

Looking out his window Kenez didn't notice anything amiss. That soon changed as ten minutes later the area was lit up by the red-and-blue flash of police lightbars. "I didn't think anything was wrong until all those cops showed up," Kenez said.

On December 10th, 2007 police announced that an autopsy showed 27-year-old Erin Anne Tilley died from gunshot wounds.

The Edmonton Sun had earlier reported the woman died from three gunshots to her head, neck and upper chest.

With the release of Tilley's identity, detectives also revealed several details from their investigation.

The victim and her driver were apparently not the only people in the car when the shooting occured and police appealed for those other passengers to come forward.

A third vehicle was present in the intersection at the time of the shooting and police stated they would like to speak to those people as well.

A man fuelling his vehicle at the Meadowlark Petro Canada gas station may have witnessed the shooting. Police said the man made himself available for questioning after an appeal.

Tilley had never come to police attention prior to the shooting.

"It does not appear that the victim was directly involved with a gang, nor does it appear she was the intended target of the shooting," said a police spokesman. "Unfortunately, she took the bullet."

The second woman in the car has continued to not co-operate with investigators, said police.

At the time of Tilley's funeral on December 13th, a police spokesman confirmed detectives had exhausted their leads and were anxious for known witnesses to come forward.

Erin Tilley moved to Edmonton from St. John's, Newfoundland in 1998 and found work as a personal banker and at a car dealership. The recent high school graduate chose the Alberta capital for its economic appeal.

"St. John's is a great place to live, but it's hard to find jobs," Tilley told the Edmonton Journal in 2002. The newspaper interviewed Tilley for an article dealing with population shift within Canada.

"It was a nice change of pace. I'm working now and going to school. I love it here. It's booming."

"There's an awful lot of people here from outside the province. Everyone knows there's opportunity."

"[Edmonton] has got a small town feel for a big city. I recruited my whole family, they're all here now."

Tilley visited her home province in 2005 and renewed her acquaintance with high-school friend Melissa Tizzard. The woman was contacted by the Journal regarding her friend's death.

"She just wanted something better than she could get here," said Tizzard.

"All heads turned when she walked into a room. She walked into a room and just lit it up. She was always happy, always wanted to do everything for everyone else. She was just a good person."

Interviewed at her home in Torbay by media, Tizzard expressed her loss.

"It was a shock. She didn't deserve to die."

"I'm upset – obviously. She had so much to offer the world. She was such a bright person with such a bright future. And I'm upset that's gone."

"We're all having a hard time ... everyone who knew her. If you talked to anyone who knew her they've got nothing but good things to say about her. She was a good person – can't say anything bad about her."

"She wasn't troubled. Her family was everything to her."

"She was beautiful .. inside and out. Now she's looking down on us from up there."

Scott Hammond recalled his high-school sweetheart telling him how good her life was in Edmonton.

"I remember her saying that she was very happy that she chose to live in Edmonton, which I find a little ironic now," he told the Edmonton Sun.

Hammond last saw his beau on her last visit to Newfoundland.

"She was just as full of life as I can remember," he said. "She was the life of the party. You were just a better person for knowing her."

The Edmonton Journal published remarks that cast a shadow while shedding light on a possible double life.

Speaking to a 61-year-old man who requested anonymity, Tilley said she was looking for work when they met a year ago. The man co-signed her loan on a new black Cadillac Escalade.

"I think she was an innocent bystander," said the man, who said Tilley was planning to study esthetics at a local college in January.

"She's very interested in beauty and health," he said. "It would really have suited her."

A tribute to Erin Tilley appeared on Facebook, a popular internet social networking site.

A visitation took place on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at Hainstock's Funeral Home, 9810 34 Avenue. A private funeral service was held the next day.

With media keeping a respectful distance, about 150 gathered to honour a daughter, sister and friend through songs and video.

Without any arrests in the case, mourners cast wary eyes at cameras parked some distance away. The Last Link has learned some close to Tilley have feared being identified by news sources. A discrete police presence observed those who attended.

One woman, a friend of the deceased woman's family, did speak to Global Edmonton. She described the service.

"Beautiful songs and a beautiful video of her as a child and growing up. And her sister said the most beautiful poem of all. The ceremony was beautiful. She was an angel – she's with God now. We're going to miss her dearly. Everyone loved her very much."

"I love you Erin. I miss you dearly," the woman said.

Inside, mourners were comforted by Pastor Blaine Allan.

"The ties of friendship and love that run throughout our lives do not unravel with death," he said. "God created Erin out of love, and what God creates cannot die."

At the time of the service, a police spokesman confirmed detectives had exhausted their leads and were anxious for known witnesses to come forward. The appeal was echoed by the woman interviewed.

"Please come forward and say what's happened to her. Because you're going to live with that the rest of your life and when you meet your maker it's not going to be good. So please have a heart and be honest and tell the truth."

According to the Edmonton Sun, those who attended the service said they didn't know who Tilley was with the night of the shooting. They also believed those person did not attend the service.

A mass was to be held in Newfoundland on December 14th , 2007 in the Roman Catholic basilica above St. John's Harbour on Bonaventure Avenue.

"Unfortunately, she took the bullet."

Those were the words of a police spokesman describing what appeared to be the "wrong car, wrong people, wrong time, wrong place" murder of Erin Tilley.

The words sounded eerily familiar.

In September 2006, popular bikini-model Lily Duong aka Lily Tran, 23, was shot in the head while driving a Mercedes near 76th Avenue at Argyll Road.

Police theorise the intended target of the shooting was Stephen Anthony Pillon – out on bail after being charged with the May 15th, 2005 murder of Kenyon Joseph Gardiner.

While police investigated an indirect organised crime connection in the Tilley matter, it was widely accepted Tran willingly associated with gang members.

Tran's murder remains unsolved.

The issue of a "wall of silence" was the centre of media focus in the days following Tilley's murder.

"Someone did this to her and took her life," Melissa Tizzard observed for Global. "And it's not fair. She did not deserve to die."

Police said the woman driving the car Tilley was shot in had no legal obligation to be forthcoming with information.

Criminologist Bill Pitt didn't act surprised that no one had stepped forward.

"It's typical."

"They've seen one girl whacked. If somebody else says something they're just liable to get the same treatment. And it's quite likely from the same crew," Pitt told Global Edmonton.

"Being part of a gang .. there's a kind of a credo that's evolved here about not dissing somebody in the gang and definitely not ratting them out to the police."

Pitt has often commented on the nature of gang activity in the city and recently predicted a tsunami of violence would soon wash over the Alberta capital.

"It was payback time. And when the bullets started flying it didn't matter whether the person's a gang member, an associate. If you're in the car with them those bullets are indiscriminate."

Authorities attempted to downplay and calm the fears of witnesses to street-level violence. Flavia Nobles of the Edmonton Crime Stoppers program spoke of the security of their tip program.

"If you're worried of your personal safety or fear of reprisal, the Crime Stoppers program allows you to do the right thing – remain anonymous – 100% guranteed.

Those with information were asked to contact Edmonton police at 423-4567, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.tipsubmit.com - a secure tip submission web site.

Edmonton police chief Mike Boyd faced the question of witness safety at a ceremony marking the signing of his three-year contract extension. Boyd said his department was working to build more trust.

"Continue to build confidence with the community and continue to work with people so that they understand that their police service is going to do the very best for their personal safety. Sometimes that means doing different things with witnesses to provide that kind of protection," Boyd told reporters.

"We're nowhere near dealing to my satisfaction with gang activity in this city or in the province."

Asked how organised crime should be combatted, Boyd punched out a list.

"You recognise it, you focus on it, you conduct intelligence, you work with the other police agencies in the province and other police agencies in the country."

Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel also weighed in with his views on the wall of silence surrounding recent homicides.

"It's despiscable that individuals who might have information about that don't come forward. I think that's something that's one of the more disheartening things," he told CTV Edmonton.

630 CHED Radio put the question of witness silence on their online poll.

There was no indication of how many voted on the one-day voluntary poll which allowed only one response per computer.

deadmonton 2007 - erin anne tilley