Bella’s Brigade: Continuing a 7-year-old homicide victim’s quest to help others
Posted March 8, 2024 2:51 pm.
Warning: this story touches on the topic of suicide. 24/7 supports can be found by texting or calling 9-8-8, Canada’s Suicide Crisis Hotline. (link 988.ca )
At just 7-years-old Bella Rose Desrosiers had big dreams of helping others. A legacy her mother is hoping to continue while navigating the trauma of her daughter’s murder.
In May of 2020, Bella Rose was brutally killed in her Mill Woods home by a man her mother was trying to help find mental health supports. David Michel Moss was found guilty of second-degree murder last April, with his sentencing date still to come.
READ MORE: Bella’s Brigade: Family of young murder victim in Edmonton frustrated by court delay
“She was just very special. She had a huge smile.” Melissa Francis sitting down with CityNews to shine a light on how the justice system treats victims of crime and advocate for more supports.
A deeper look at the ripple effects of the murder of 7-year-old Bella Rose Desrosiers will be airing Sunday, March 10th on CityTV at 7 p.m., part of CityNews Connect.
READ MORE: Edmonton man found guilty of second degree murder in stabbing death of girl
“She just had big dreams to help those who went through the same thing she went through, which was unexpected tragedy and loss,” Melissa hoping her advocacy for change will continue to make her eldest daughter proud, as she plans to host a mental health retreat this summer.
Saying, in the year before Bella’s death, after losing her father to suicide, her two young girls began talking about how to help others. Landing on the term ‘Butterfly Hearts’.
“Her dream was to do something in regards to mental health. We were already talking about Butterfly Hearts back then, butterfly hearts is the name of the retreat, the emotional wellness retreat that we are hosting in the summer.”
This summer, organizing a Butterfly Hearts Emotional Wellness Retreat, hosted by Power Psychology, to help other victims of homicide. Melissa is fundraising for the event by selling Bella’s Brigade T-shirts and planning a May 25th tattoo fundraiser at Bombshell Tattoo Gallerie.
“The retreat is kind of a start to be able to provide a safe space for people to be vulnerable, to learn some new tools, for their trauma and moving forward,” Melissa noting the event will be hosted by the same councillor who has been treating her and her youngest daughter.
As a registered nurse in a mental health capacity, Melissa says she was able to navigate the system to find the best supports for her, but says the majority ended up coming from the private system as public mental health supports are overburdened.
“For those that don’t have benefits, or aren’t able to advocate for themselves, or aren’t able to navigate the system, it’s very difficult to move forward. I think there’s a lot of people who aren’t able to move forward at all because of that.”
Melissa hopes this summer’s mental wellness retreat is a first step in supporting other victims of homicides, hoping to one day be able to reduce the financial barriers of court supports for other victims of homicide.
“For things like councillor supports in court, that has been a really big thing for me for all of my court dates.” Melissa noted, that when she had to testify in court, she was given access to a court support dog out of “pure luck.” While they are rare for adults, hoping to support organizations that give victims of homicide access to therapy dogs in court.
