‘I don’t want to let her go:’ Sacred fire for infant found dead in Manitoba barn
Posted November 8, 2024 4:47 pm.
Last Updated November 9, 2024 5:10 pm.
A sacred fire burned in Memorial Park Friday in honour of Xavia Skye Lynn Butler, the toddler who was found dead in June inside a barn in the RM of Grahamdale. Her death is now being investigated as a homicide.
Loved ones brought many stuffed animals to the fire in honour of the toddler, who especially loved teddy bears.
“I just didn’t expect it to hurt like this. I don’t want to let her go,” said Natalie Anderson, the baby’s former caregiver.
“I was honoured and blessed to have her. She was a gift.”
Anderson, cousin to Xavia’s biological mother, said she became Xavia’s primary caregiver from the moment the little girl was born until Xavia was around 11 months old.
Anderson says shortly before Xavia’s fist birthday, Xavier’s biological mother wanted her daughter in her care. On March 17, 2022, Child and Family Services (CFS) took Xavia from Anderson and placed her back with Xavia’s biological mom.
“I should still have her,” Anderson told CityNews. “I’d give anything to smell her head. To hug her, to hold her, to kiss her. To sing to her.”
Anderson, who claims the two shared a happy and healthy home, does not understand why Xavia was taken from her.
“The whole nine months I had her, CFS was never involved,” Anderson said. “She was safe and she was loved. She was cared for.”
Nadine Bone lived with Anderson and Xavia for the first few months of the toddler’s life. “She never cried. She never made a fuss. She was perfect,” Bone said.
Bone says the community is calling for justice and for the people responsible for her death to come forward. RCMP have not yet made an arrest.
“So we’re here just to light her fire and lead her home and we’re here to find justice and support for Xavia,” said Bone, who on Friday tended the sacred fire outside the Manitoba legislative building.
The sacred fire brought out many emotions for Anderson, who intends to remain there for the entire four days it burns.
“I’m sad because it kind of means that she’s actually going home,” Xavia’s former caregiver said.
