Woman stabbed to death in Ottawa park was 'very sweet,' friend says

An Ottawa mother of four is being remembered as a sweet, caring person whose violent death has left the local community in shock and mourning.

Brkti Berhe, 36, was attacked around 11:30 a.m. Thursday near the intersection of Uplands and Paul Anka drives, according to Ottawa police, south of the downtown core and near the international airport.

During a police media availability Friday, Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson confirmed two of Berhe's children were with her at the Paul Landry Park when she was stabbed to death. 

A 36-year-old Montreal man, Fsha Tekhle, has been charged with first-degree murder in her death. Police have labelled the killing a femicide.

Berhe knew Tekhle because her aunt had recently left a relationship with him, according to close family friend Helen Kibade.

Community members and sources have confirmed that images on a Facebook account depict Tekhle. The account, which reporters at CBC/Radio-Canada have seen, uses a different name.

Minutes after the killing Thursday, the account posted one word in Amharic, an Ethiopian Semitic language. Translated to English, the word means "done."

The post was timestamped 11:40 a.m., about 10 minutes after Berhe was killed.

The Facebook account became unavailable Friday morning before Tekhle made his first appearance in court on the first-degree murder charge. According to Facebook, content can become unavailable if someone changes who can see it or deletes it.

CBC has been unable to verify whether Tekhle owns or operates that Facebook account, whether he wrote or published the Thursday morning post himself or if he had anything to do with the account disappearing.

Kibade said she and Berhe would often play with their children at the park where her friend was attacked.

"She's a very sweet girl. It's broken my heart. It's very, very sad. I don't understand," said Kibade, adding that Berhe had a "very nice life [and] marriage."

Tanya Pomeranz lives nearby and spoke with CBC as she visited the growing memorial in the park to lay flowers. 

"I've seen parents and kids playing and having fun here. Chances are, I might have seen her and her kids just in the way that we walk around," Pomeranz said.