For John and Silvana Dodd, a parent’s worst nightmare came true when they had to remove their son from life support three years ago Tuesday.
Steven Dodd was shot dead while at a “crack shack” near 130th Street and 108th Avenue in Surrey, police said. His parents made the decision to take their 27-year-old son off life support a week later.
“Losing Steven like this has shattered our family unit,” his parents, John and Silvana, said in a statement on the anniversary. “Not a day goes by that we don’t think of him and miss him so much.”
They said their son wasn’t a gang member or a drug dealer but was a “drug addict and was in a fragile mental state.”
“Steven was sexually assaulted when he was 13 and … he finally told his family about the assault when he was 24,” the statement says. “The assailant introduced him to the world of drugs. His drug use escalated and got out of control. This was how he managed and dealt with the abuse he suffered as a young boy.”
Dodd’s parents are appealing to anyone who may have information to come forward.
“We know there were over a dozen people inside the crack shack at the time of Steven’s murder, many of them struggling with addiction themselves,” said RCMP Sgt. Jennifer Pound. “(They) may have made significant life changes and are … in a better position, physically and mentally, to come forward with information.”
John Dodd has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has only weeks to live, while his wife has undergone surgery for a number of health problems since their son’s death in 2009.
“We are asking that you do the right thing, make the right choice and come forward,” the family’s statement says. “We never gave up on him and we ask that you help us stay true to that.”
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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