Family who lost daughter angry that murder charges were withdrawn
Ahead of today’s hearing, I met with the parents of Aurora, Ont., high school graduate Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez, who was 18 when she died in 2022.
Leonardo Bedoya and Maria Lopez said they’re livid that the murder charges against Law were withdrawn, and that he will only serve time for abetting suicides, including Jeshennia’s.
“It’s a wound that keeps opening up every day. And it will be worse if he is not sentenced to a lot of years in prison,” Leonardo said, adding: “[Law] destroyed my life.”
Jeshennia was Leonardo and Maria’s only child. They keep a dimly lit shrine to honour her memory, in a small room in the back of their home.
The mementos laid out tell the story of a teenager who was well-loved: framed pictures of happy memories, a Mother’s Day message Jeshennia once wrote, her winter boots, her prescription eyeglass and a pack of gum she never got to finish.
“She was a sweet girl, a studious girl, a girl who had so much zest for life,” Maria said of her daughter. “She had lots of dreams.”
