Calls for justice from Winnipeg’s Filipino community at vigil for 19-year-old shot and killed
Posted February 15, 2024 2:42 pm.
Last Updated February 16, 2024 11:21 am.
It’s been two years to the day since 19-year-old John Lloyd Barrion was killed in a random armed robbery at a beer vendor, and his mother says their family has only continued to fall apart.
“Honestly, we’re not okay. We’re still devastated until now. My family is breaking apart,” said Maria Barrion, John Lloyd’s mother, who spoke to CityNews Wednesday.
Maria, along with around 40 members of the Filipino community, met at the Notre Dame beer vendor in Winnipeg Thursday evening for a candlelight vigil commemorating the anniversary of John Lloyd’s death.
She says in the two years since, the family has continued to struggle. She says she and her husband no longer speak to each other.
“[My husband] has an alcohol addiction. He’s an alcoholic and it triggered his alcoholism and other things.”
She adds her youngest son is so traumatized he can no longer focus on his studies and is not graduating high school this year.
“He doesn’t go to school. Before he was good, he went to school every day but after that, no,” explained Barrion.
“Me, I’m not okay. I’m not okay. I’m just trying to be okay but I’m not okay, honestly. How many times I wanted to give up? I wish I’m the one who died but, because I have four more children I have to think twice. Like, no I won’t do it. I won’t do it. Because they suffered so much already.”
This anniversary is significant for the family as earlier this month, one of the three men charged with John Lloyd’s death was sentenced. After pleading guilty to manslaughter, Ryan Jeron Smith was sentenced to seven years in prison, minus the time spent in custody.
“I’ve been waiting for 2 years to seek justice for [my son] and so far, I’m not happy with the results.
“I’m not happy with that. [Smith] has been in jail for two years already so that means in five years he will be at large and then doing the same thing because he’s already a repeat offender. That means in five years, I don’t know if people will change like that,” she explained.
RELATED: Winnipeg police announcing arrests related to two recent homicides
CityNews spoke to John Christian Barrion, John Lloyd’s older brother, at the vigil Thursday. He said it was “heartwarming and very uplifting” to see so many people come to honour the memory of his brother.
“My brother, who was only working, who was only trying to provide for the family, to be shot. It takes a toll on me.
“It’s like an everlasting ice age,” John Christian said of the impacts since his brother’s death. “This candle vigil allowed for warmth in the middle of all that distress and coldness. It was really needed.”
John Christian said his family stands together in calling for systemic change to the justice system so others don’t have to go through losing a family member.
“The root cause is still there. Really, what I’m going to be seeing in the future is continued robberies. Continued sons and brothers who will lose their lives. I don’t see something like this changing in Winnipeg unless real solutions and actual alternative solutions that tackle the root cause is addressed by Manitobans,” he said.
Maria says she was always worried about her son working at the beer vendor into the early hours of the morning, but when he would come home they would share time together, and it’s these memories she’ll never forget.
“When he came from work, because he goes home about 3:30 in the morning, so that time I was to wake up because I have to go to work early. So I think he’s buying some food for his lunch, he will bring it home and he will share it with me.”
Maria says she doesn’t know if she’ll ever feel safe knowing the people who killed her son may be walking free in the near future.
“It’s so scary. It’s so scary, they can come back to me and do something bad or whatever to my family. It’s scary,” she said.
WATCH: Maria Barrion speaks to CityNews
She’s joining others in the Winnipeg Filipino community to call for justice, in hopes the other two men that are connected to John Lloyd’s death who are still awaiting trial, are sentenced in relation to how much the family has been impacted.
“I just want to know that people are still remembering my son,” said Barrion.
“We cannot live like this forever, right? We cannot live walking around that we’re not safe. So we cannot live in fear forever. I want people (to) do something. Please do something for this to make a change. We cannot wait until it will happen again to our very own family, because cannot deny it’s not safe here anymore. You cannot just close your eyes or cover your ears and pretend everything is normal because it’s not normal.”
RELATED: Beer vendor under investigation following employee homicide
John Christian said his family is now waiting for the trial of William Arthur Sampson, who is charged with second degree murder. A third man’s charges were stayed in relation to John Lloyd’s death.
“Hopefully justice is served,” said John Christian.
“For John Lloyd, I hope that he will, he might not get the right justice here on Earth. I’m confident that God will give it to him,” added Maria.
WATCH: Maria Barrion addresses the Filipino community in Tagalog
RELATED: Friends remember 19-year-old Filipino homicide victim
