Grief-stricken friends and community members stopped by a Brampton shopping plaza on Wednesday to pay their respects to a woman who was fatally shot there a day earlier.
Identified by relatives as 29-year-old Savannah Kulla, she was a competitive dancer, lifeguard, and sports fan.
But most of all, they remembered Kulla as a beautiful person and a loving mother of four young children: three boys and a one-year-old girl.
The baby was the subject of an Amber Alert on Tuesday after allegedly being taken by her father, 38-year-old Anthony Deschepper, following the shooting. She was located safely a short time later after being dropped off with relatives in Niagara Region, police previously said.
Deschepper, who has also been identified as the suspect in Kulla’s murder, died after being shot by police during an “interaction” at a gas station in Niagara Falls early Wednesday morning. The SIU investigating that incident.
Another woman who was driving the vehicle carrying Deschepper at that time was arrested. She could be charged with accessory after the fact and abetting, Niagara police said on Wednesday.
‘All she wanted was the best for her kids’
Kulla’s friend Celina is one of several people who have dropped off flowers at the scene of the crime, near Queen Street East and Airport Road.
She said she was kind and selfless.
“It’s tragic. (Savannah) was such a good person and (a good) mom. … She was going through a lot and all she wanted was the best for her kids,” the friend tearfully said.
“(Her) three little boys were asking where mommy was last night.”
Celina said she knew of Deschepper but hadn’t met him in person.
“I saw the Amber Alert and I knew right away it was her daughter, and I had a gut feeling it had to do with the shooting. … I don’t know why someone would want to do this,” she said.
Kulla’s immediate family is in shock, devastated by the loss of their beloved daughter and youngest sibling.
“I can’t believe it. … I woke up today and was like, ‘Where’s my sister?’ and she’s gone,” said her distraught older sister, who asked to not be named and declined to show her face on camera.
The victim’s mother, Karen, said she’s a “nightmare” and “mess” after Kulla’s death.
“Right now I’m just trying to hold it together. I have two other kids and eight grandkids, all six of them under 6,” she told CTV News Toronto on Wednesday morning.
The woman’s relatives spoke about the conflicted relationship she had with her accused killer.
“She was in love with him. It was love at first sight, apparently. He was great for the first while and while she was pregnant and then afterwards, he just got worse and worse and worse,” her mom said.
“(Savannah) loved him and then they were separated, and he just couldn’t let it go,” her sister added.
Karen said Kulla had struggled with her daughter’s dad for some time, but no one imagined he’d go as far as to take her life.
“He was just phoning her 50, 60, 70 times a day, you know? He had cameras installed and we didn’t know. … He installed them to keep an eye on her,” she said, alleging that he’d been stalking and harassing her youngest child.
“She just tried to get away from him and she’d go see him and say, ‘Oh, this is over,’ and that’s what she did on the weekend. … I guess he didn’t want to take that very well and this is the result of that.”
Now, her infant granddaughter’s mother and father are both gone.
“I’m sorry to say this, but I’m glad he’s gone, and mainly because now her ex was very afraid of those boys being around (Deschepper) when he got like violent, right. “Well, not violent, but when he got crazy,” she said.
“So now I know we’ll be able to have those three boys again with no problem because he wouldn’t have let us see them if he knew Anthony was on the loose.”
Kulla’s four children, however, are now without a mother.
“She was just such a good girl. She was just so excited to watch her kids grow and she was such a great mom, and they loved her so much,” her sister said.
The woman’s family said they’ll do what they can to support her kids.
“We have a lot of family members so the babies will be okay, the kids will be okay,” her brother Spencer said.
Peel Regional Police have described the incident as an “intimate partner-related homicide.”
“This is a case that’s just ugly all around, not a good beginning, not a good outcome. Fortunately, that young child is safe but now without both of their parents, and so our hearts are with the family right now during this very difficult time,” Const. Tyler Bell-Morena told CP24 late Wednesday afternoon.
“This is an investigation that’s very personal to officers. I’ve spoken to many that have been working on this. They’re all angry and they’re all upset, and they’re working very diligently behind the scenes right now trying to piece together, to properly understand, what went wrong here.”
Bell-Morena said police will also do everything they can to assist the family during this difficult time.
Kulla is Peel Region’s tenth murder victim of the year.
