Innocent woman killed in apparent road rage incident was a mother of five

Friends who basked in the light that Angela McKenzie shone all around her are devastated at how her life was extinguished.

“The hardest part is the absolute senselessness of it. There was no reason this had to happen. None,” says close friend, Sven Stuwe. “There is this anger inside of me for the absolute stupidity of what these people did.”

On Tuesday at about 11 p.m. police were responding to several reports of an apparent road rage incident between two vehicles driving erratically in the city’s southeast. Concerned citizens claimed the driver of one car was chasing another car — exchanging gunfire.

McKenzie, a 40-year-old mother of five young children — including a son set to graduate in the next few weeks — was caught in the crossfire. She didn’t survive.

Police are still investigating the devastating incident with charges yet to be laid.

“There is no justification for what happened. I am just deeply angered and upset because she was a good individual and now the community at large is going to lose,” Stuwe says.

Stuwe and his wife met McKenzie at the elementary school her twin daughters and the couple’s son attended about eight years ago. They became fast friends.

“She had this energy about her,” he explains. “She always had a good sense of humour, laughed lots and was very positive. She came off as a very strong, fighting personality.”

Indeed, life meant she had to be.

A pillar for her family

In February, McKenzie was still hurting and trying to make sense of the loss of her estranged husband who passed away.

Despite the rollercoaster of broken promises and attempts to escape his demons, McKenzie would still reach out to show him she cared about him and supported him.

Stuwe says that’s just the kind of person she was — kind, non-judgemental, and committed to her community. He says her positive approach to life, despite any obstacles she faced, was contagious. Now that she’s gone, it will continue to guide him.

“No matter what was happening, she could find the good in it. Even when she was going through tough times, still found time to laugh and be grateful,” he says. “You don’t come across a personality like that often.”

He says McKenzie’s devotion to her children, her community and her faith (she was a volunteer at her church) is likely what buoyed her despite the dark days.

“There is something to be said about doing for others — it really feeds the soul. She was always giving back to the community,” he says.

A positive personality

Stuwe even suspects McKenzie would try to find a way to accept the unacceptable way she was taken from this world — to take it as an opportunity to reaffirm gratitude, to remember the value of enjoying the moment, to hold loved ones a little closer.

“I think she would have tried to find something to learn from this. She was larger than life. An incredible individual,” he says.

“It just makes this whole thing that much more tragic. Here’s this person, an incredible light who developed such a large community around giving and had such a big heart…to die in this way because two people were having a heated moment and not thinking of others. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know how to make sense out of this at all.”

Stuwe says McKenzie was a “solid pillar for her children,” who are now staying with her mother. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support the family.

Just last month, Stuwe and his wife had coffee with McKenzie at their home talking about her pain and frustration over her husband’s passing and also about how her life might be shifting from tough times to a more hopeful, new chapter.

“It was a good visit,” he says. “We always let her know we had her back and would be there if she needed something. When she walked out the door, as usual, she was happy and grateful for the visit and we looked forward to seeing her again.”

The night of the crash, McKenzie had just dropped off soup to a friend. She was on her way home to her children when she was caught in the midst of gunplay and deadly disregard for life.