How they lived: Families share memories of Quebec City mosque attack victims

On March 28, 2018, Alexandre Bissonnettepleaded guilty to all 12 chargesagainst him, reversing his earlier decision to enter a not-guilty plea. Below are profiles of the victims publishedon the one-year anniversary of the shooting.

The six men shot to death by a lone gunman who walked into a Quebec City mosque on Jan. 29, 2017had all made the choice to tradeone continent for another.

They'd leftbehind friends, relativesand familiarity to make new lives in Canada.

All were husbands andfathers: 17 children lost a parent.

They were educatedmen who had come to Quebec City seeking opportunity, nature, peace and democracy.

Their last moments werespent in their place of worship, surrounded by friends and people who cherished them.

Their families now cling to photographs, recorded voicemailmessages and memories. For each family, the deathof their loved one is still a fresh wound.

Here are the photographs the friends and familiesof the six victims agreed to share, along with some of the memories of those who knew them best.

IbrahimaBarry,39

Birthplace:Guinea, 1977

Children: Four

Profession:Information technology technician with Revenu Qubec

From New York City, Thierno Barry talks about his older brother, in a soft voicethat's reduced to a hush when he speaks about how much he loved Ibrahima.

"My heart is so empty now," said Barry, who has struggled to accept his brother's death still expectingphone calls from him on weekends.

"I miss his kindness, his support;he was always there if I needed someone to talk to. I'm by myself now."

ThiernoBarry said Ibrahima studied and worked hard to become a computer analyst, eventually hired by Quebec's revenue agency.

He was the "hope of the family" back in their home village of Timbo, in the centre of Guinea.

Ibrahima was considered the "calm, careful" one of the six siblings. He practisedkarateand taught it to his younger brothers, but Thierno said Ibrahimahated violence.

After studying in Lille, France, Ibrahima moved to Quebec City and told his brother he was staying put, that it was his "last stop."

"People were kind to him, giving his family furniture, coming to say hello and chatting. He told me he regretted not moving earlier," said Thierno Barry.

ThiernoBarrylast saw his brother when Ibrahima visited him in New York City in 2010. He said seeing the landmarks they visited together now make him stop in his tracks, and he has to hold back his tears.

KhaledBelkacemi,60

Birthplace: Algeria, 1957

Children: Three

Profession: Full professor in theDepartment of Soil Sciences and Food Engineering at Universit Laval

Larbi Yahia's memories of Universit Laval professorKhaled Belkacemi are steeped in the daily activities they shared as friends, first in high school in Algeriaand then again, 40 years later, in Quebec City.

"He wasa real professional, when it comes to his projectsor the university," Yahia told CBC. "But in our personal lives,you cannot imagine the number of jokes we made each day."

He and Belkacemi worked out daily at a gym in their neighbourhood.They gardened together and helped each other with minor homerenovations. On weekends, they went walking in a nearby forest,towarda beach they'd renamed "Khaled beach," and then "Beaver beach."

"The gunman, if he knew Khaled before, or he knew those victims before, he would have never never done this," said Yahia.

Yahiasaid his friend was also passionate about soccer. They were fans of Real Madrid.

"If Real Madrid scored, we would shout and make noise; it was unbelievable."

KhaledBelkacemi's son, Amir, told Radio-Canada his father had decided to leave Algeriaafter seeing his colleagues gunned down in front of himin an attack at theuniversity where he was workingin 1994.

He didn't want his children to grow up in such an environment.

"The irony of this is grotesque. We left because of this, and we found this here," said Belkacemi.

Belkacemi had turned 60on Jan.18, 2017.

AbdelkrimHassane,41

Birthplace: Algeria,1975

Children: Three

Profession: Computeranalyst withthe Quebec government

"They came to live in peace," said Zahra Boukersi, the aunt of Abdelkrim Hassane's wife. Shesaid Hassanebecame like a son to herafter she welcomedthe family to Quebec in2010.

Boukersisaid the couple left Algeria to provide a better future for their children, who he loved to spoil.

"He was a real papa-gteau;he loved his girls that much. When[his wife] got pregnant with a third one,I thought maybe he'd be mad at her,but no, he was very happy to have another girl."

Boukersi said driving east onHighway20 from Montreal to visit her niece and the girlsin Quebec City has been difficult since Hassane's death.

"Not seeing him there among us,with the kids we miss his presence, and we miss his love. His smile. For me, it's very hard to see his pictures," said Boukersi.

Hassane'swife kept his cellphone, and she hasn't changed the message people hear when the voicemail picks up.

"Sometimes when I call and I hear his voice I feel, really, that he is still alive. But he's not. He's gone, and we miss everything about him."

Azzeddine Soufiane, 57

Birthplace: Morocco, 1959

Children: Three

Profession: Geologist,owner of a picerie-Boucherie Assalamin Sainte-Foy

In the hours following the massacreat the mosque, one of the first names to emerge from the chaoswas that ofAzzeddineSoufiane.

One after the other, people described how instrumental Soufiane had beento the Muslim community, helpingfamilies when they first arrivedin Quebec City.

His friends said he extended thisgenerosity to anyone who needed it handing out sandwichesfrom his grocery store to homeless people in the neighbourhood, or simply taking the time to listen to people's troubles.

Several witnesses described how,even in his final moments, hetriedto help others, throwinghimself on the shooter.

For his 14-year-old daughter Zineb, Soufiane was, above all, a father she could always count on.

"I'm a very curious girl, and my father was there to answer all of my questions," she said.

Now, "sometimes I have questions and I don't know who to turn to."

Zineb said the two were close, and the past year has been hard.

She often hung out with him at the store, enjoying the steady flow of people from Quebec's small Muslim community. She said everybody knew him.

"Every night I miss him and every day," said Zineb. She's met with other children who lost their fathers and says it's been good to be with people who are living through the same thing.

"They're the only ones who really know what we're feeling," said Zineb. In fact, she changed schools because she didn't want to be treated any differently because of her father's death, and she didn't want anyone's pity.

Soufiane's wife,Najat Naanaa, was also his business partner in the Boucherie Assalam. She sold the storeafter he died.

"There were so many memories," she said."I couldn't do it alone. It was a two-person venture, and I also wanted to be closer to my children."

Aboubaker Thabti, 44

Birthplace: Tunisia, 1972

Children: Two

Profession: Pharmacy technician, night shift worker atExceldorpoultry plant inSt-Anselme, Que.

Tarek DhouibimetAboubakerThabtiin a lawyer's office in Tunisia, as both sought help navigatingthe Byzantine world of Canadian immigration.

Within months, they were the closest of friends.

"We had a dream to come to Canada, and we realized our dream together," said Dhouibi.

While still in Tunisia, Thabti was always inviting Dhouibi over,for supper, for Ramadan, because Dhouibi was single. Dhouibi said he brought that same generous spirit to Canada.

"He always helped newcomers, to get their first apartment, their first car, helped them move, helped with their papers. He gave all his time to help."

Dhouibisaid Thabtiwas a devoted family man: he canhardly remember moments alone with his friend because Thabti'swife and two children were always there.

"He worked by night.He slept a few hours a day, and the rest of the time, he had to take care of his family."

Returning to the mosque where he last spoke to his friend has been hard for Dhouibi. Thabti would always stand next to the doorway to see everyone out after prayers.

"That's the way he lost his life," says Dhouibi. "He was standing next to the door, waiting for people to leave."

MamadouTanouBarry, 42

Birthplace: Guinea, 42

Children: Two

Profession:Accounting technicianwithIFF-LucasMeyer Cosmetics,Sainte-Foy

In Aissatou Bald's eyes, her uncle was social magnet: his friends' friends were naturally drawn to him, creating an ever-widening social circle.

This was due to his smile, but also the kind of man he was:"generous, loyal, patient, welcoming, kind and efficient," she said.

Bald took the stage Sunday in front of hundreds of people at an interfaith ceremony in Quebec City to share her memories of her uncle.

He was from the Lab region of Guinea, which borders Senegal. He studied administration, then accounting. He worked for a cosmetics company for five years before he was killed, at age 42.

Bald said he prized education, something Fatou Kin Ciss, a friend of Barry's,can confirm.

KinCiss told CBCthat Barry wanted his wife to pursue her education past high school.

"We are taught to be good wives [in Africa] but not necessarily to be good participants in the economy and in social life and politics," said Kin Ciss.

Kin Ciss said Barry was intent ongiving back to his community in Guinea and had started to raise money to build two wells.

"The best thing we can do to honour his memory is to keep working on that project," said Kin Ciss.

This story is part of CBC's in-depth look at the aftermath of the shooting at the mosque in Quebec City one year ago. CBC will also have special coverage of the commemorative events on Monday, Jan. 29, including live radio, TV and online broadcasts.