Friends remember Sommer Boudreau as a 'warrior princess'

A vigil was held in Deep River Monday night following the death of 39-year-old Sommer Boudreau.

Boudreau was found dead in a Deep River home on Dec. 11. Adam Rossi, 41, has been charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a body. 

Friends of the Boudreau family are remembering Sommer as a person with a bold personality.

"I don't want to be sad remembering her, she wouldn't want that," says David McEvoy.

"She would want people to celebrate who she was and to carry on her legacy. And that is, she was a warrior princess and that's how I'm always going to remember her."

McEvoy described himself as a close family friend to Boudreau, having grown up in Petawawa together.

"I get waves of sadness, waves of joy, rage, so many different emotions," he tells CTV News.

"I don't think there's words out there that can really describe the ins and outs of my feelings. It's pretty surreal; it hasn't fully hit me yet."

McEvoy says the news of Boudreau's murder came as a shock, but there is still more confusion surrounding the circumstances.

"I've never heard Adam Rossi's name in my life before this happened," said the 39-year-old. "None of her friends know him and she's got a lot of close friends."

In a tragic coincidence, McEvoy says he was previously engaged to Boudreau's younger sister Ashley, who was murdered by her partner nearly 13 years ago in January 2010. McEvoy and Boudreau had separated prior to her death.

Ashley Boudreau's name is carved into the Women's Monument in Petawawa, where the names of 22 other women are also carved who were killed by men.

The monument also includes the names of Anastasia Kuzyk, Carol Culleton, and Nathalie Warmerdam. A recent public inquest in Renfrew County centred around their deaths was held, resulting in 86 recommendations being submitted to the province in an attempt to end intimate partner violence.

"We were not shocked because we know that in this province a woman or girl is murdered every week, but incredibly sorrowful that it happened yet again," said JoAnne Brooks, the coordinator of the Ending Violence Against Women group in Renfrew County.

Recently Lanark County declared femicide an epidemic. Brooks is hoping the rest of the province follows suit.

"Femicide is an epidemic, and we've seen this happen again this week in Renfrew County."