Murder victim remembered in song The 2005 murder of Markham's Alicia Ross has been memorialized in a poignant song by alt-country star - and Ottawa native - Kathleen Edwards on her just-released third album, Asking For Flowers. The tune, titled Alicia Ross, is a moving interpretation of what happened to the 25-year-old woman the night her neighbour, Daniel Sylvester, beat her to death and later hid her body where it went undiscovered for five weeks. Sylvester was convicted last May of second-degree murder and given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 16 years. MOTHER'S STRENGTH "Mamma can you hear me? As I dragged on my day's last cigarette, He pulled me so hard off my very own backdoor steps," begins the song's chorus. Edwards said she was moved to write the song after she was struck by the strength and composure of Ross' mother, Sharon Fortis. "I was just so taken with the story because when I saw this woman's mother give these press conferences and leading searches, I just wondered how she did that," Edwards told Sun Media this week. "I wondered how she could find the strength to be that person. She just looked like she really kept that together. And all I could see was my mother, like what if that was my mother in that position? And she was just so incredibly strong. "I guess I just thought that could have been me. It could have been my best friend. And it is. The parallel to me is not a middle-class white girl. I see her and then I see all the victims of the (Robert) Pickton murders. They're all somebody's child." CHILDREN'S CHARITY Edwards said a Ross family friend heard her perform the song during a concert and Fortis subsequently contacted her and asked for a copy of it once it was recorded. Edwards said she didn't get much feedback from Fortis on the song, the proceeds of which will go to the Ross family-supported Project CANOE, which sends underprivileged or troubled kids to summer camp. The two women still have never met but Edwards said: "I am certainly open to whatever comes and it doesn't really feel like it's my place. I don't have any expectations. My only hope is that I haven't caused any further strife." Jane Stevenson ottawasun.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews