Three days after a woman and her two teenage daughters were stabbed at their south Ottawa home — killing two of them — a clearer picture of the family is beginning to surface.
Anne-Marie Ready, who worked at Global Affairs Canada, was killed in the Monday night attack at the house she owned on Anoka Street, along with her 15-year-old daughter, Jasmine Ready.
They had both received black belts together in a recent ceremony at Douvris Martial Arts, according to master sensei John Douvris, a co-founder of the company.
“Anne-Marie and Jasmine were kindhearted, compassionate, energetic and supportive people,” Douvris wrote in an emailed statement Thursday.
“Their beautiful smiles and kind laughter made our dojo and karate community a better place. We will miss them immensely…. Our entire karate family is grieving this inexplicable and tremendous loss.”
Anne-Marie Ready, 50, was a trade commissioner for Global Affairs Canada’s Caribbean engagement division, according to her online LinkedIn page. She had worked at the department since 2017.
In an email to CBC, Global Affairs spokesperson Jason Kung said the department was aware of the “tragic death” of an employee and was reaching out to support relatives and colleagues.
“We extend our deepest sympathies, as well as our thoughts to the family, relatives, and to all those close to the deceased,” Kung wrote.
Prior to 2017, Anne-Marie Ready worked in the Embassy of Canada to Peru and the High Commission of Canada to Barbados, according to her online employment history.
Raywat Deonandan, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa who knew her but hadn’t spoken to her in several years, said he has “strong memories of a brilliant and caring woman.”
“I have always found her to be intensely intelligent and insightful, as well as a devoted mother,” he said.
Daughters were recent students at neighbourhood high school
Jasmine Ready had recently finished Grade 10 at the French Catholic high school Franco-Cité in their neighbourhood of Alta Vista.
Her elder sister, 19-year-old Catherine Ready, survived the attack. She was taken to the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus trauma unit with multiple serious stab wounds and a gunshot wound — the latter sustained when three Ottawa police officers shot and killed her attacker.
Catherine Ready is a student at the University of Ottawa, according to her social media. She had graduated from Franco-Cité last year, according to Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est, which posted a statement about the two teens on social media.
The board wrote in French that its community “is in shock following the drama that occurred Monday in one of our own families.”
“We invite you to join us in prayer, that they may find the comfort they need to go through this ordeal,” the statement reads.
All three stabbing victims are of Guyanese descent.
The girls’ father is expected to arrive in Ottawa today, according to friends of the family.
Investigations ongoing
Ottawa police continue to investigate the triple stabbing.
Relatives of the killer, 21-year-old Joshua Graves, told CBC News he was interested in one of the daughters and had been told not to contact her.
Meanwhile, Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating the fatal police shooting of Graves, as well as the shot sustained by Catherine Ready. [CBC]
