The 16-year-old was fatally attacked outside his school nearly three years ago. Thursday would have been his 20th birthday.
To his family and friends, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey was an ambitious, creative teenager with dreams of making it big in the arts.
“He was a young prince, blossoming into a king,” said Kevin George, Dopwell-Bailey’s cousin and godfather. “He was a gifted artist. I have a picture with him holding a card that says ‘actor, rapper, dancer.’ That’s really who he was. He was gifted in the arts.”
“He’d always let you know what he had to say,” said one of Dopwell-Bailey’s close friends, who did not want to named. “I think about him every day that was my brother. We did everything together.”
On Thursday evening, dozens of Dopwell-Bailey’s family, friends, and members of the Côte-des-Neiges community gathered at the Chalet Kent community centre at Martin Luther King Park to remember the life of the 16-year-old, who was killed more than three years ago.
The teenager was murdered in an act of violence that shocked the neighbourhood. He was ambushed by a group of teenagers outside Programme Mile End, a high school in Côte-des-Neiges. The attackers beat, pepper-sprayed, and stabbed Dopwell-Bailey multiple times, leaving his family devastated.
“It feels like yesterday. I think about him all the time,” said Charla Dopwell, his mother, to the audience. “I love him so much. I miss him every day.”
She added: “When I see his friends, I get overwhelmed — he would be 20 years old today. We would have had a big celebration. He loved life, he loved his friends and family.”
Speakers at the vigil emphasized the need to address youth violence, as Quebec has seen a worrying rise in violent crime among young people.
According to Statistics Canada, the rate of police-reported violent incidents among 12- to 24-year-olds has been increasing steadily since 2021. While homicides in Quebec dipped briefly in 2022, they are on the rise again in 2023. Assault, robbery, firearms violations, and kidnappings involving youth have also increased.
“We must continue to invest in our youth through community organizations,” said Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor Kasoki Katahwa. “Since the beginning of our mandate, we have prioritized public safety with a social approach. This includes millions of dollars directed toward youth programs in the city,” Katahwa said.
Katahwa also stressed how she has seen the pandemic change young people, and that Dopwell-Bailey’s death has marked her time in office.
“I’ve always felt it was my duty to remember the youth in this borough and ensure our public policies break down barriers of systemic racism and discrimination,” she said. “It’s always in my mind and in my heart, and today we are here to celebrate his life.”
For Dopwell-Bailey’s family, the vigil was not just a chance for remembrance, but also a call to action to live up to his memory.
“Life is precious, life is fragile,” said cousin George. “Once you have life, you have a responsibility to maximize your potential, to fulfill what you’re capable of, to recognize your gifts and pursue them. Life is so fragile.”
