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The grieving brother of slain London woman Cheryl Sheldon says he wishes he could have done something to prevent her death.
Mark Sheldon, 60, on Wednesday addressed a crowd at the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre on Elizabeth Street, where a memorial bench was unveiled in honour of his 62-year-old sister, who was killed in her Wharncliffe Road apartment in June.
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“We all love you, sis, and you’ll never be forgotten,” the plaque affixed to the bench reads, in part.
The plaque also references femicide, the killing of women by men, which Mark Sheldon said was an “important” element to have included. “I think something’s got to be done about this, and it’s got to stop.”
Sheldon died in hospital after she was found critically injured in her apartment on June 22. George Curtis, 44, who has been identified as her boyfriend, is charged with second-degree murder.
Friends have previously shared with The Free Press details of Sheldon’s life – her years-long battle with addiction and homelessness, and her transition to a home at 345 Wharncliffe Rd. N., a London & Middlesex Community Housing complex, a few months before her death.
For Mark Sheldon, who lives in Quebec, word that his sister had been homeless came as a shock. “I was not aware of that. I’m going to have to deal with my guilt (of not knowing). That’s what I feel. I feel guilty. I can’t seem to get that out of my head.”
London police Chief Thai Truong, Mayor Josh Morgan and London-area MPs and MPPs attended Wednesday’s unveiling of the memorial bench. Fabienne Heller, a women’s community advocate who helped organize the memorial, said of victims like Cheryl Sheldon: “We can’t forget them.”
Mark Sheldon remembered his sister fondly.
“I just remember she was a really good person,” he said. “I always felt like I should have protected her. I loved my sister.”
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