Murder of doting Oshawa mother and attack on family shocks city
Nov 30, 2008 - 10:06 PM
Ian Caldwell
OSHAWA -- Her warm smile is engaging and the photos on a Facebook memorial reveal a small part of why Leslie Kelly was so loved by her family and so endearing to her friends and the people she met.
The 26-year-old Oshawa woman was a mother, a wife, a friend, and the victim of a horrific murder that has shocked the city of Oshawa.
She is also a "hero" who died trying to protect her family, say family and friends who have been left reeling after the senseless attack late Saturday afternoon.
Neighbours said the attack was sparked by a child custody dispute involving the father of a 13-year-old boy the Kellys had been caring for since the boy's mother died of cancer in August.
The teen was Mr. Kelly's half-brother, said Renee, a friend who did not want her last name used.
The boy's father arrived at the Kelly family's townhouse late Saturday afternoon, neighbours said, and there was a confrontation with Rick Kelly.
"Leslie stepped in front of Ricky and she was stabbed multiple times," Dave Mclean, an uncle, told CTV News outside the family's home.
"She's a friggin' hero. I mean, she saved him," he said.
"Rick doesn't even know his wife is dead yet," the friend, Renee, told newsdurhamregion.com Sunday night.
Neighbours initially said there was a birthday party at the townhouse. However, Renee said she does not believe there was a party.
Nathan Kelly, 3, and his father Rick Kelly, 29, were critically injured in the attack. Riley, 5, is also being treated for stab wounds.
Three other children in the townhouse were not injured.
Police officers responding to a 9-1-1 call about the attack were involved in a confrontation with a suspect in a nearby townhouse and the man was shot and killed by an officer, said a spokesman for the province's Special Investigations Unit.
The suspect was identified as Gino Petralia, 47, of Oshawa.
Durham Regional Police and the SIU were on the scene Sunday continuing their investigation.
The family photos on Facebook show Leslie Kelly with her boys, Nathan and Riley, and her husband Rick; a glowing smile always standing out.
Ms. Kelly is shown nurturing one of her sons as an infant, doting over one of the boys with "Go Gens" painted on his face, and smiling engagingly with one of the boys in a photo that's inscribed "My Little Man" along with the imprint of a kiss and a heart.
Family and friends say she should be remembered as a "hero."
-- with files from Jillian Follert and Torstar news services
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