'I wasn't going to walk away': Partner of mom of 5 reflects on year since she was killed

On a recent frigid Thursday afternoon, a home in northeast Calgary is busy with four active kids unwinding after a day at school. The television in the corner plays a reality show with the sound turned off while Hamburger Helper cooks in a frying pan in the kitchen.

Jeffery Poirier, 41, is directing traffic. It's almost been a year since his partner, Angela McKenzie, was killed, leaving her five children without their mom.

As Calgary police understand it today, what led to McKenzie's death last May started with a targeted attack. The driver of a Chevrolet Silverado was pursuing and shooting at the driver of a Volkswagen Jetta.

Both vehicles approached a southeast intersection at high speed, where McKenzie was driving a silver van. McKenzie's vehicle was struck, and when emergency services arrived, she was declared deceased at the scene.

Nearly a week later, Calgary police issued a Canada-wide warrant for a convicted Calgary gangster. He has yet to be located.

Along with Sylvia McKenzie, Angela's mother, Poirier has been taking care of her five kids, whose ages range from nine to 18. The two act as joint guardians of the children. The kids' biological father died last February.

"It's definitely been a learning curve. It's different. I don't know how really else to describe it," Poirier said. "We're doing our best, we're learning as we go … me and grandma, both, we are 100 per cent doing it together." 

WATCH | How Jeffery Poirier has approached the last year since the death of his partner, Angela McKenzie:

Poirier first met McKenzie when he was 20 years old, working for her father, and knew all of the kids since they had been born.

In the living room, McKenzie's framed photo is enclosed in a glass display case. The reminders of McKenzie come daily, if not hourly, Poirier said. Certain songs remind him of her. He has her name tattooed on his arm.

"She's forever a part of me … she's with me everywhere," he said.

When he thinks of McKenzie today, he remembers the person Angela was and where she put her time, like how she volunteered at the church. 

"Her way of looking at things is she always saw the good in people. She refused to see bad. Because she knew everybody had good."

Without the help of Sylvia, Poirier said he wouldn't be able to handle taking care of the kids. But knowing the situation, there was no decision he could have made aside from staying, he said.