Her Name Was Tamara Redman, and She Was Loved

For over a year, she’s been referred to only as “an Indigenous woman” in Vancouver police press releases about her death.

But now Tamara Redman’s family say they want the public to know more about their daughter, sister and mother.

“She was always easy to get along with,” Tamara’s mom, Patti Redman, told The Tyee. “She was happy all the time… It doesn’t matter who you were, what you did — she liked you.”

Crystal Redman, Tamara’s sister, remembers her infectious joy.

“We could be sitting there watching a show, and she would just burst out laughing about a time I fell or if she thought about a funny scenario where I ‘rolled down a hill,’” Crystal told The Tyee in a series of text messages. “She was awesome.”

“My best memories of Tamara were on our days off,” Crystal said. “We would go shopping and out for lunch and get our nails done. She was my younger sister, but she really helped mould me into the person I am today.”

Tamara’s obituary described her “fun-loving, take-no-shit attitude,” and her courage and resilience in the face of the many challenges in her life.

When Tamara died on March 30, 2024, at 37, she left behind her two beloved children, Justin, 17, and Tatum, 8. Patti raised Justin and Tatum with her husband, Darren. But even though Tamara wasn’t able to be a full-time parent, she loved her children and frequently visited them. Tamara also had a close relationship with her sister Crystal.

Patti recalled the day she learned that Tamara had died. When the police detective on her doorstop told her he was from the major crimes unit, Patti knew it was about Tamara.

“I said, ‘We always dreaded this knock on the door.’ I thought it was an overdose right away.”

But Tamara hadn’t died of an overdose. She’d been discovered on the road on Victoria Drive at Kingsway at 5 a.m. Video released by police showed a black minivan making a U-turn in front of a pixelated shape. A police press release described how Tamara had been found badly injured and had died despite the efforts of first responders.

Nine months later, police announced that they had identified the minivan and a 32-year-old man, Sina Mogharei, was charged with dangerous driving causing death and failure to stop at the scene of a collision.

On the day Patti learned that Tamara had died, she went to the busy intersection at Kingsway and Victoria Drive, and laid flowers for her daughter in front of the Greater Vancouver Baptist Church, near the place where she had last drawn breath. On a card, she wrote the anguished words, “Oh my baby girl know that you were and always will be loved and missed forever. RIP, love Mom, J & T.”

On the anniversary of Tamara’s death, Patti and Tatum visited the spot to again lay flowers and remember Tamara.

Mogharei will be in court Tuesday for an arraignment hearing. Patti Redman says she will be in court, hoping to learn more about what happened — and hoping to see justice for her daughter.

“Nobody should have to die the way that she did,” Patti told The Tyee.

The Redman family has been rocked by tragedy over the years. In 2019, Patti’s husband Darren died of an overdose after taking opioids for years for pain caused by complications of chemotherapy treatments.

Darren was a member of the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation and had experienced great loss and trauma as a child, Patti said. That includes the loss of his mother, who was murdered.

“Darren, for so many years, tried not to be Indian — just because of all the discrimination,” Patti said.

“But he and I went to college together, and we did Native studies. So he was interested in his culture.”

After the losses of Darren and now Tamara, the Redman family members lean on each other for support.

Patti said she and Crystal have to stay strong for Justin and Tatum.

Patti says it bothers her that police didn’t name Tamara in any of the press releases about the case. Tamara had a lot of friends, Patti said, and it took a long time for the news to trickle through the various communities her daughter was part of. Tamara was also in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend, Colin. Tragically, Colin died of an overdose six months after Tamara’s death.

Patti said the most important thing she wants people to know about Tamara is how much she loved her kids.

“She talked about them all the time to everybody. And she was so proud of them.”

[Editor's note: At the May 13 court appearance, Mogharei opted to go to trial. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled.]