Adam (AJ) Edhi's grandmother Ellen Metcalfe, left, helps tidy a memorial set up for AJ at the 34 Avenue and 48 Street intersection on May 31, 2025. Edhi, 13, was killed by a hit-and-run driver on May 29, 2024. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia, file

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For Ellen Metcalfe, a small southwest Edmonton memorial site provided a place for her to grieve and reflect on all her favourite memories of her 13-year-old grandson Adam (AJ) Edhi, who was killed in a hit-and-run collision in May 2024.

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So, when City of Edmonton employees tore it down in April without contacting her family, she was understandably devastated.

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“That’s how I handled my grief, and when it disappeared, it crushed me,” said Metcalfe in an interview with Postmedia last week.

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“As a family, we felt violated. We worked with them to get approval for the memorial site, and they just took it away without even contacting us.

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“They left all the contents of it in garbage bags.”

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The City of Edmonton allows families to put up roadside memorials if they go through an approval process, but they can be taken down by the city if deemed a safety risk. However, that wasn’t the case in this situation.

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Metcalfe said prior to erecting the memorial, her family worked with the city to find the best spot for it. It was placed (in a safer location) roughly 250 metres from where the crash occurred on May 29, 2024.

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“We tried to keep it from blocking any line of view for anybody in traffic or any obtrusion for vehicles. We thought we did everything right,” said Metcalfe.

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Thirteen-year-old Adam Edhi was struck and killed while riding his bicycle in a hit-and-run crash on May 29, 2024. Police issued a Canada-wide warrant on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2025, for the arrest of Abraham Alfonso Chavez, 41, of Edmonton. Supplied

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Postmedia repeatedly contacted the City of Edmonton but did not get a response. However, the branch manager with the city’s parks and roads services department provided an update to Ward Karhiio Coun. Keren Tang, who shared the email with Postmedia.

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“Earlier this year, the city received a 311 inquiry requesting the removal of a roadside memorial due to safety concerns. Staff reviewed the request and arranged for the memorial to be removed on April 20. Following the removal, it was determined that the memorial had previously been approved at this location in 2024. Unfortunately, that approval was not identified during the review process, and the memorial should not have been removed,” the email stated.

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The city said once the error was recognized, the memorial was returned to the site on May 4, but was “not handled in the manner we would expect for a situation of this nature.”

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“The return was not co-ordinated directly with the family, resulting in those items being left at the site, rather than returned to them personally. We understand the distress this caused. We apologize and regret the impact on the family and community members,” the email continued.

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“We are reviewing the circumstances that led to these errors and identifying opportunities to strengthen our process to help ensure previously approved memorials are identified before action is taken in response to future inquiries.”