A 17-year-old Brock Ledoux is pictured with his mom, June, who died in 2013 from cancer. Ledoux was close to his mother, according to his aunt, Yvonne Funk.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Yvonne Funk

Yvonne Funk was immediately sick to her stomach when she found out her nephew had been killed on his way home to Williams Lake after being released from prison less than 24 hours before.

She had just spoken with Brock Ledoux the day previously and he had left her a message sending his love and that he was on his way home to be with her and his two daughters.

“He phoned us the day before he was being released and said he would see us soon,” Funk says, nearly one year after his death. “Brock was like a son to me.”

The 64-year-old grandmother has been caring for Ledoux’s kids for the last three years and now has permanent custody of the two girls, ages 4 and 6.

In January, Ledoux was identified as the victim of a deadly shooting at a Cache Creek residence on Jan 14. Corey Harkness, born 1987, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the 33-year-old’s death.

Harkness is currently out on bail and is scheduled to return back to Kamloops Supreme court in March for a preliminary inquiry on the second-degree murder charge.

RCMP said at the time an interaction took place between two people who knew each other and found a man deceased.

Brock Ledoux at age 2 is pictured with his mom, June.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Yvonne Funk

Ledoux had his ups and downs growing up. Some of his criminal charges include an assault conviction from 2017 as well some break and enter charges from years previous. 

But during his time in jail, Ledoux realized he needed to step up as a father and change his life around after he was released, Funk says.

“He had set a bunch of plans and goals in place for his future,” she says. “He was heading home to be with his girls.”

Funk describes her nephew as a caring, generous person who would help anyone who needed it. He loved dirt biking, hunting and various extreme sports. He also was a Powwow dancer. He spent his time growing up both in Williams Lake and Cache Creek with his dad.

“He made some wrong decisions and he ended up in some wrong places but he was an amazing young man,” she says.

The girls’ mother is unable to be a part of their life due to a medical condition.

“Brock knew before he was murdered that he would have to step up and be a part of the girls’ life because their mom was not able to,” she says.

While he was in prison, Ledoux did his best to phone Funk and his daughters every night.

“He would phone the girls and they would sing to him and talk to him,” she says.

Every week, Ledoux would also send his girls a parcel with three to four books he had recorded for them to play when he wasn’t there.

“He sent books every week and we will have those forever and we still listen to them because that was his relationship with (his girls) when he was in prison,” Funk says.

Since his death, Funk says she is hesitant to have the news on out of fear Ledoux’s daughters might see or hear something related to their father’s death.

It took Funk a week to tell Ledoux’s daughters what happened to their dad.

“They know he was passed but the reason behind it, I have never gone there yet,” Funk says. “They cry at least every night for their dad.”

Funk says the person who killed him to understand the impact he has caused on Ledoux’s family and two daughters.

“I want him to understand the effects of these two babies growing up without their father. I have them in school where dads pick up their kids every day and then there is me, this old grandma, coming to pick them up,” she says. “It’s an impact for the rest of their life and they will never know him because of this one person who wished to do this.”

Funk plans to attend the trial when it starts and hopes to be there as often as she can. As for Ledoux’s daughters, she doesn't plan on telling them the truth around their father's death until they are much older.

“It’s not something I can keep from them. One day they're going to know and people are going to talk,” she says.

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