Funerals for Taliyah Marsman, Sara Baillie to be held in Calgary Thursday

Funerals for Sara Baillie and her five-year-old daughter Taliyah Marsman will be held in Calgary on Thursday, the family said, in the double-murder case that has shocked and saddened Canadians across the country.

"Both Sara andTaliyahwere the light and the heart of their families; we cannot imagine how to go on," the family said in the online obituary.

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Baillie, 34, was found dead in her northwest Calgary home July 11. An Amber Alert was issued for her daughter, but police found the little girl's body on the evening of July 14in a field east of Calgary.

Edward Delton Downey will be in court on Wednesday, facing two counts of first-degree murder. A motive for the killings is not yet known.

Funeral services will be held at Centre Street Church on Thursday at 2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to theMissing Children Society ofCanada.

On Sunday, hundreds of people came out on a cold and rainy evening in Calgary to honour the lives of a little girl and her mother,whoworkedat the airport Chili's.

Hundreds mourn Taliyah Marsman and Sara Baillie

8 years ago

Duration 1:04

Many from nearby communities paid their respects at a vigil for Marsman and her mother

"This is just such a horrible tragedy," said Timothy Chidlaw. "I can't understand how anybody could do such a horrible act, especially to a child."

In the online obituary, the family wrote: "Above all else Sara was a dedicated mother with an unflinching love forTaliyah.They were inseparable and spent all their time together dancing, playing and laughing".

They said Taliyah was a "funny girl" who "never left home without her sparkly purse full of lotions and lipsticks."

Dozens of condolence messages have been left on the McInnis & Holloway funeral home page.

A tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park in living memory of the mother and daughter, the family said.