Lives of Calgary stabbing victims celebrated at U of C event

The University of Calgary held a celebration of life on Wednesday to remember five young people who were stabbed to death at a house party near the campus earlier this month.

The event was held in honour of Lawrence Hong, Joshua Hunter, KaitiPerras, Zackariah Rathwell and Jordan Segura.

• BLOG:Searching for answers while covering the Calgary stabbings

Mayor Naheed Nenshi was one of the speakers.

"It's going to take a very, very long time and certainly for the families and for the friends and for these university campuses, I'm not sure the healing will ever be complete," said Nenshi. "The best tribute we can give to these five folks is to live to live our lives in remembrance of these folks and who they were and to be inspired by their example."

Other speakers included Premier Dave Hancock, two university chaplains and representatives from each of the five families.

Victims

The five victims ranged in age from 21 to 27 and three of them Hunter, Hong and Segurastudied at the University of Calgary.

All five were killed early on the morning of April 15 at a party in Brentwood to celebrate the end of the school year.

Matthew de Grood, 22, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder and isundergoing a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he can stand trial.