How do you help a four-year-old boy who has just witnessed his mother’s murder?
That’s the question caregivers have to deal with after a child was found in the back seat of the car that was shot-up in a gang-style slaying in Surrey Monday.
The woman who died at the wheel has been identified as the boy’s mother: 23-year-old Nicole Marie Alemy.
Steve Hart, an SFU psychologist, told 24 hours the first step is making the child feel safe again.
“I would expect the kid is being assisted right now in regaining a sense of safety and normalcy,” said Hart. “You want to get him in a controlled environment, preferably with someone he is close to.”
Hart said it’s also important to keep stimuli related to the trauma – in this case loud sounds and gunshots – away from the boy.
Hart also expects the boy to express his trauma differently as an adult, since he lacks the ability to process what happened.
“He could have dreams and nightmares about it and show symptoms different than what you’d expect from an adult,” Hart said.
And because a four-year-old isn’t able to express himself, Hart says techniques like play therapy may be used to help the boy cope.
RCMP confirmed Tuesday that Alemy, a White Rock resident, was driving her husband’s Cadillac sedan when another vehicle pulled up and opened fire at the intersection of 148th Street and 96th Avenue in Surrey.
Cpl. Dale Carr would not comment whether the husband is known to police, but there are reports he may be involved with the United Nations gang.
The UN gang has been linked to several recent Lower Mainland shootings and sources close to the gang scene say the group is in the midst of a battle with another gang, the Red Scorpions.
