WARNING: This text accommodates particulars of home violence.
An Edmonton man charged with killing his former girlfriend has a historical past of violence towards the girl he allegedly stabbed to demise.
Drew Moore, 36, is charged with second-degree homicide within the demise of Erin Kern, 30, and with the tried homicide of Kern’s 62-year-old father.
Moore, due in courtroom Monday for an election and plea look, is dealing with six different fees for breaching courtroom orders that prohibited him from making contact with Kern.
Trevor Kern mentioned he believes the justice system failed his daughter and is placing different victims of home violence in danger.
“The justice system that we’ve got is failing a variety of intimate companions,” he mentioned.
“They simply proceed to offer these perpetrators the advantage of the doubt.”
On the time of the killing, Moore was sure by courtroom orders to maintain his distance from Kern. He was prohibited from being close to her residence or making any try to contact her.
Court docket data obtained by CBC Information present he had confronted a string of fees for breaching courtroom orders and allegedly attacking Kern a number of instances, courting again to the summer time of 2024.
The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service has declined to touch upon the earlier circumstances, citing the continued case towards Moore and his proper to a good trial. Moore’s lawyer declined to remark.
Advocates say the case demonstrates the necessity for probation reform and for improved protections for victims and for specialised courtroom methods to prosecute home violence circumstances.
Kern was discovered useless on the morning of Feb. 11, inside her residence within the Strathearn neighbourhood.
Police have been known as after Kern’s father found her physique and was subsequently attacked.
An post-mortem confirmed that Kern died of a number of stab wounds. Police have described her demise as an intimate associate murder.
‘No penalties’
Trevor Kern mentioned he had began to fret about his daughter whereas he was abroad on enterprise. They labored collectively at his workplace and spoke typically. His calls and texts had gone unanswered for 3 days by the point he returned to Edmonton and drove over to her place.
What he says he discovered inside the house stays etched in his reminiscence in stark element.
He describes that morning as a residing nightmare.
Kern mentioned he had anxious in regards to the relationship and had urged his daughter to go away Moore.
However she saved taking him again.
Kern mentioned he is sharing his daughter’s story within the hopes that it’ll assist shut gaps in a justice system he describes as a revolving door.
He’s calling for adjustments in laws that might guarantee offenders who break probation or court-issued restraining orders face stiffer penalties.
“There is not any penalties for a number of breaches of courtroom orders. That actually devalues the whole courtroom system,” he mentioned.
“What can I accomplish that this does not occur to a different household?”
The courtroom document
Moore was first arrested for allegedly attacking Kern on July 13, 2024, in Parkland County. Inside days of his launch on a promise to maintain the peace and maintain his distance from Kern, he was arrested once more.
On July 18, 2024, he was charged with felony harassment for inflicting Kern to concern for her security and obstruction of justice through the use of threats to dissuade her from giving proof. He was additionally charged with breach of probation and for breaking orders to make no contact with Kern.
New fees have been laid in August, when Moore, who had been beneath home arrest, left his northeast Edmonton residence and was at massive for greater than per week.
On Oct. 16, 2024, Moore was convicted on two counts in the home arrest case for breaches associated to leaving his residence with out the courtroom’s permission.
As a justice system, we’ve got failed Erin. And lots of different Erins.– Mary Jane James
The opposite fees for harassing Kern have been withdrawn. Moore was sentenced to 30 days in custody however was given credit score for time served and served 15 days. He was launched on situations that he make no contact with Kern.
Court docket data present Moore was additionally charged for allegedly choking Kern final August, days earlier than he was caught breaking home arrest. He was charged with illegal confinement, two counts of assault, threatening to kill Kern, and failing to abide by no-contact orders.
Court docket paperwork present a keep of proceedings within the alleged choking was issued in October.
Inside three days of Moore’s sentencing in the home arrest case, he was charged for an alleged assault on Kern in Edmonton on Oct. 22.
Moore was charged with assaulting Kern, threatening to kill her and for utilizing violence, or threats of violence, to intimidate her.
He was additionally charged with failing to adjust to an order prohibiting him from contacting Kern. The fees have been withdrawn a day after Kern’s demise.
Erin Kern posted $250 bail for Moore for the costs associated to the alleged October assault towards her.
On Nov. 16, Moore was charged with failing to conform together with his launch orders, together with directions that he depart Kern alone. These fees have been withdrawn in early January.
Cat Champagne, government director of the Alberta Council of Girls’s Shelters, mentioned home violence circumstances typically collapse as a result of the sufferer is just too fearful to testify.
Canada’s probation and bail methods have to be strengthened to higher defend all victims of crime, together with home violence survivors, Champagne mentioned.
She mentioned repeat offenders ought to face stronger deterrents to breaking launch situations, and the courts ought to make sure that anybody with a big historical past of breaching courtroom orders is disqualified from launch.
Kern’s case has undermined her religion within the justice system, Champagne mentioned.
“We’re extra of a authorized system than a justice system recently. The penalties for offenders are simply not there.”
She preferred different folks greater than she preferred herself.– Trevor Kern
Mary Jane James, CEO of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, mentioned home violence offences have to be taken extra significantly and punished extra severely.
She agreed with Champagne that probation and bail reform is required. James additionally mentioned courtroom packages with specifically educated litigators, prosecutors and justices ought to be established to deal with home violence circumstances.
She hopes the tragedy will draw consideration to gaps within the system and assist break down a “shroud of disgrace” that usually prevents victims from searching for assist.
“We have to do higher, and this demonstrates to me that we aren’t,” she mentioned.
“As a justice system, we’ve got failed Erin. And lots of different Erins.”
Trevor Kern mentioned he hopes his daughter’s story will result in change within the justice system and assist others like her get assist.
As he continues to navigate his grief and his personal trauma, he remembers his daughter as a caring one that beloved music and pets and cared selflessly for others.
“Sadly, she preferred different folks greater than she preferred herself,” he mentioned. “She put herself in hurt’s means for the advantage of others.”
If you happen to or somebody you already know wants help, there are non-emergency sources and hotlines accessible in Edmonton and Alberta:
- Household Violence Info line: name or textual content 310-1818.
- Provincial abuse helpline name 1-855-443-5722.
- Edmonton police non-emergency line: name 780-423-4567 or textual content #377.
- The Alberta Council of Girls’s Shelters has sources on-line at acws.ca.
If the state of affairs is pressing, contact emergency providers in your space.
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