Death of Tina Fontaine

Tina Fontaine
see caption
September 2013 school photograph of Fontaine
Born
Tina Michelle Fontaine

(1999-01-01)1 January 1999
Disappeared8 August 2014 (aged 15)
Downtown Winnipeg
Diedc. 10 August 2014(2014-08-10) (aged 15)
Body discoveredRed River, Winnipeg
Resting placeSagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba, Canada

Tina Michelle Fontaine (1 January 1999 – c. 10 August 2014)[1] was a First Nations teenage girl who was reported missing and died in August 2014.[2] Her case is considered among the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada, and her death renewed calls by activists for the government to conduct a national inquiry into the issue.

In December 2015, a suspect was charged with second-degree murder in her case.[3][4] However, no forensic evidence or eyewitnesses that could directly link him to her death was presented and the cause of her death was never established. He was acquitted by a jury in February 2018.[5] The case of Tina Fontaine helped prompt the Canadian government to commit to creating an independent national inquiry into the issue of murders and violence against Indigenous women, which was started in 2017.

Fontaine was buried on Sagkeeng First Nation next to her father.[6]

  1. ^ Blaze Baum, Kathryn (22 August 2014). "How many more women will it take, asks family of slain teen Tina Fontaine". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016.
  2. ^ MacLean, Cameron (17 February 2018). "How Tina Fontaine died remains a mystery following Raymond Cormier's acquittal". CBC. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ Renata D'Aliesio, Joe Friesen and Stephanie Chambers (11 December 2015). "Alleged murderer was a prime suspect not long after Tina Fontaine's death". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017.
  4. ^ Steele, Heather (11 December 2015). "What we know about Tina Fontaine's accused killer, Raymond Cormier". Global News. Archived from the original on 14 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Jury finds Raymond Cormier not guilty in death of Tina Fontaine". CBC News. 22 February 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018.
  6. ^ Miljure, Ben (17 August 2015). "Memorial for Tina Fontaine unveiled one year after teen's body pulled from Red River". CTV Winnipeg. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016.