Oct. 7 would have been Devon Marsman’s 21st birthday.
On Sunday, his loved ones gathered at the basketball court on Romans Avenue in Halifax’s west end to celebrate the teen’s life and renew calls for justice in his five-year-old murder case.
For Marsman’s mother, Theresa Gray, it’s hard to believe so much time has passed since she last saw her son.
“He didn’t get to live any of his life whatsoever, he was just stripped of everything,” said Gray.
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Devon Marsman was 16-years-old when he went missing. He was last seen on Gala Court in Spryfield, N.S.
Ella Macdonald / Global News
Marsman was 16 when he went missing after attending a party with his older cousin — Treyton Marsman — and another boy in February 2022.
Gray said she never gave up looking for her son — organizing search parties and marches to keep his face in the public eye.
She always maintained Marsman’s cousin, Treyton, was responsible for her son’s disappearance — a name she said she gave police from the beginning.
On Sept. 17, 2024, police finally announced they had found Marsman’s remains and charged Treyton Marsman with second-degree murder, indignity to human remains and obstruction.
Lisa Fenton is an advocate who has worked closely with Marsman’s family in the pursuit of justice in his name.
“We are still living with the consequences of the violence that took Devon’s life,” said Fenton at Devon’s birthday celebration on Sunday.
“That is why we have to keep talking about it. We have to teach our young people that there is another way.”
In 2024, police charged four more people: Emma Maria Meta Casey, Chelsea Herritt, Mark Douglas Robert Doyle and the other boy who attended the party with Marsman the night he went missing.
The boy was a youth at the time of the alleged crime, and his identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Casey, Herritt and the youth are facing multiple charges each, including indignity to human remains.
Doyle faces one count of accessory after the fact to murder.
Due to an all-encompassing publication ban, Global News is unable to provide an update on the status of the legal proceedings until the jury is sequestered in the final trial set to begin in March 2027.
For Gray, Marsman’s legacy is reflected in the people who show up for his heavenly birthday celebration, year after year.
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Community members crowd the basketball court on Roman’s Ave. in to celebrate Devon Marsman’s “heavenly birthday.”
Ella Macdonald / Global News
“He meant something, he means something,” Gray said. “Hopefully, for everyone that was involved, justice comes sooner than later.”
The basketball court in the Bayers Westwood neighborhood is where Marsman spent countless hours playing with his friends.
On the weekend, it is where family and friends gathered to sing songs, eat birthday cake, and share stories.
Community leaders are currently in the process of getting the space dedicated in Marsman’s memory.
Social justice activist, DeRico Symonds, is taking the lead on the project.
Having grown up in the same community, Symonds said he knows the value of the court and what it represents for the area’s youth.
“I lived at 337 Romans Avenue, and this basketball court was the therapist I could afford,” Symonds said.
Even when things get tough, he told the youth in attendance that violence is never the answer.
Adding, there is a way to transcend your circumstances.
“I did it. Many other people from this community have done it,” Symonds said. “(…) It may be tough, you may be going through all kinds of things, you may be poor, but you can continue to press on and things will get better.”
At the municipality’s regional council meeting held on Sept. 29, Symonds said council moved forward on plans for the dedication.
“Devon’s name along with seven others were all approved without debate, which means that his name is now reserved to be approved and applied to a municipal asset,” Symonds explained.
“Obviously, we want it for the basketball court.”
Once the trials have concluded, Gray said she will continue fighting in Marsman’s name, but with a slightly different goal in mind.
“I’m going to be basically on a mission, to make sure what happened to my son doesn’t happen to any other families with a missing child,” Gray said. “My son was never a runaway.”