Adrian Makurat says he has been fielding difficult questions from his two young daughters for the nearly three years since his wife and mother of their children was killed and says it will continue for his lifetime.
In court Tuesday, the widower said during an hour-long victim impact statement that he has been upfront with his daughters, who were only seven and four at the time their mother was killed.
Speaking at the sentencing hearing for Damian Hudson, who was found guilty last December of the second-degree murder of Caroline Huebner-Makurat, Makurat said his conversations are no longer just about Minecraft or Barbie, nor which cartoon shows to watch.
“My conversations with my girls now include, ‘I don’t want to go to a country where everyone has guns,’ or, ‘Why are there so many bad people in cities?’ or ‘I’m afraid someone will come into our house and shoot us.’ These types of statements no child should utter, let alone a parent hear from their son or daughter. These thoughts from my girls are now part of our common dialogue. It’s no longer just kid stuff, and a pure mind f— for me to handle,” Makurat told court.
A video montage depicting photos of the couple from their wedding through the years they had children was then shown in court with the children’s voices heard in the background.
“I am just seven years old. I was only four years old when my mom died. And I don’t know why. I do know she was young only, 40 something. I remember nothing about her but I think we made cupcakes. It’s strange not having a mom at home,” one little girl’s voice said.
“I was seven years old when my momma died. I am now 10 and I get scared some nights and it’s hard to sleep. I wish I could see her now and for her to ski with me. Momma will never meet my kids or watch me grow up or who I marry. I miss you all the time,” another voice said.
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Many in the courtroom wiped away tears as the five-minute video was shown.
Huebner-Makurat was shot to death on July 7, 2023, as she was going to meet a friend for lunch, walking on Queen Street at Carlaw Avenue just after noon.
Hudson and two rival drug dealers were selling drugs in a parkette outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, which housed a safe injection sit,e began fighting on Queen Street over a satchel that Hudson was wearing.
The jury heard Hudson was robbed of that satchel, which was carrying drugs and cash, before he and a rival drug dealer named Ahmed Ali got into a gunfight.
Hudson admitted to shooting the bullet that struck Huebner-Makurat but testified that he fired in self defence. Ali is believed to have fled the country for Somalia days later and is still wanted for murder.
It took the jury just a day-and-a-half to find Hudson guilty.
Thirty other victim impact statements were read out during the sentencing hearing from Huebner-Makurat’s parents, friends, colleagues, a safe injection site worker and a man who witnessed the shooting and testified at trial.
A re-occurring theme that was heard was how the senseless shooting of Huebner-Makurat has left people no longer feeling safe.
“I am more anxious than I used to be. Before July 7, 2023, I didn’t think a stray bullet was something I had to worry about. She lost her life. Her husband lost his wife. Her daughters lost their mother. I lost a sense of security,” said Evan MacDonald, who witnessed the shooting that day.
MacDonald testified at trial about how he was walking with his eight-week-old daughter when bullets began to fly and feared his newborn had been hit.
“It has changed me as a father, as a husband and as a person moving through the world,” said MacDonald.
Makurat told court he and the couple’s two daughters now live in a small close-knit community in the interior of B.C., where they can live an active and unique lifestyle — not just close to nature and in a location of peace.
Makurat recalled a conversation with the owner of the local ski hill he had about what brought them to the mountains.
“When asked what my wife thought about our move, I without pausing state I’m a widower, that it happened tragically without going into details, and it’s just myself and the girls – and often as many do, a ‘I’m sorry, that’s horrible to hear, or how hard is that for you three,’ is a common response that echoes and shadow’s me with every new encounter, conversation or relationship being built – something that occurs often and repeatedly for the foreseeable years to come,” Makurat explained.
“Not for a few months, or years, but forever, I’m left with explaining or having to be that guy with two girls, who now live without their mother, who tragically passed away. The story of Caroline’s passing is constantly rehashed for me, whether I like it or not.”
The Crown and defence have yet to make submissions on what a suitable period of parole ineligibility would be for Hudson.
Second-degree murder is an automatic life sentence with a parole ineligibility period between 10 and 25 years to be determined by the judge.
A date for that phase of the sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.
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