Family and friends of Calgary murder victim looking for answers

The loved ones of a woman who’s believed to be the victim of a homicide in Calgary are heartbroken and looking for answers to her death.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the family of Jelisa Maschki, who died in hospital after being found in medical distress on a northeast Calgary pathway at just 23 years old.

Fundraiser organizer Chiara St. Jean says the holiday season has been rough with the loss of her friend.

“It’s hard to be happy about celebrating Christmas and getting to open gifts when I think about how my friend isn’t here to celebrate and she doesn’t have gifts to open,” she told 660 NewsRadio.

“It just makes me really sad.”

St. Jean says she met Maschki in 2016, and while initially shy with each other, they became super close friends after spending just a little bit of time together.

“She was also a really thoughtful person … she always went out of her way to make sure you were ok and felt better.”

Calgary police say just before 4 a.m. on Dec. 9, a passerby found a woman in medical distress on the Nose Creek Pathway near 32 Avenue NE and Deerfoot Trail.

Police ruled her death a murder on Dec. 18, and say it is the “result of a fatal altercation” that happened between 9 and 11 p.m. on Dec. 8.

St, Jean says her heart sank when police ruled Maschki’s death a murder.

“I felt that I knew … and it kind of hit harder that someone could actually do that to her,” she said.

Maschki’s friends and family describe her as “the sweetest, kindest, most respectful and beautiful soul and person.”

“Jelisa was the kind of person who would do anything for anybody she cared about and loved, and it’s extremely heartbreaking that something like this could happen to her,” St. Jean said on the page.

Police are asking for security or dashcam footage from anyone who was in the Deerfoot Trail and 32 Avenue NE, and 32 Avenue between Deerfoot and 36 Avenue NE, between 9 and 11 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8.

Investigators are also urging anyone who used the Nose Creek Pathway around the timeframe to contact them at 403-266-1234, or anonymously through CrimeStoppers.

The GoFundMe has a fundraising goal set for $3,000 to help with funeral costs and other related expenses.